


Pokémon Lightblue

by Angel_Elettra



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: Multi, Original Character(s), Past Child Abuse, Teen Romance, Terrorists, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:35:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 73,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28387119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel_Elettra/pseuds/Angel_Elettra
Summary: Alma is a 16 year old trainer just starting out on her adventure. Wanting to make a name for herself by becoming Pokémon Champion and wishing to solve the mystery behind her father's disappearance, she sets out from Nuvema Town to collect all eight gym badges of the Unova region and finally challenge the Pokémon League, making new friends along the way. But when the region's fate becomes uncertain after a terrorist group jeopardizes everyone's safety, she comes to realize that some issues are much bigger than her, and she'll need all the help she can get to make it out alive.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 10





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This fanfiction started out as something silly but evolved into something much bigger over time. First things first, thank you for dropping by! It means a lot to me. I've poured all of my heart in this fiction about a franchise I'm very attached to. Generation V is one of my favorite gens, even though I came to appreciate it later on, so this is kind of a love letter to it as well.  
> I hope you'll appreciate my work. Feedback is appreciated! ^^

That fateful day, the sun shone brighter than usual. The last rays of the summer still lingered in the air, and the hot wind was starting to turn into a pleasant breeze. Alma inhaled happily, watching as the Pidoves flew by her hometown, Nuvema. She had recently turned sixteen, and she would've gotten her first Pokémon soon. She couldn't wait.

It wasn't like she didn't want to start off her adventure sooner, but she had preferred to help out her mother at home instead of going on adventures and leaving her to take care of the house and her little brother alone.  
Now that Haruki was all grown up and her mother had accumulated enough money to hire someone to help her out with chores, though, she had finally decided to embark on a journey. She tied up her dark brown hair, picked up a sporty outfit and rushed down the stairs.

Her mother and little brother were both waiting for her. "Sweetie! You look gorgeous." her mother beamed, kissing her with pride. "Look at you, all grown up and ready to take on the world." Alma chuckled embarassingly. "Stop, mom. You're gonna make me blush. I'm not a little kid anymore." "As far as I'm concerned, you still are" Haruki remarked, earning an annoyed look from Alma.

"Shush, darling. Alma's going on her first journey. It's her big day." her mother said. "I know. I'm happy for you, sis." he finally admitted. "And a little jealous." "You'll get your first Pokémon soon too, Haruki." Alma smiled, ruffling her brother's hair. "Yeah. And it's gonna be big and strong!" "Uh, I don't know if starters are meant to be big and strong right from the get go. You're gonna have to work for it first."  
Haruki pouted. "Well, it is going to become big and strong eventually." "Can't argue with that."  
Alma kissed her mom's and brother's cheeks. "I'm heading out. I'll be back soon!" "Sure thing, darling! See ya!"

The door sprung open as Alma headed out, watching her hometown Nuvema with a tinge of nostalgia and pride. "I'm gonna miss this place." she sighed.  
"It's not like you're going to leave it behind forever, come on."  
Alma turned around, slightly startled, and her face lightened up. "Angie! I'm so happy to see you here!" She rushed to hug her best friend. She immediately returned the gesture. Angela had started her journey three years before Alma, and she was already an experienced trainer even though they were the same age.

She was everything Alma hoped to become as a trainer: strong-willed, mature for her age and always ready to do her best for her team and her friends.  
"What brings you here to Nuvema again, dear?" "Well, you told me you were starting off your adventure, and I couldn't miss your big day, so I flew here with Sigilyph to see you!" Alma's eyes brightened. "Oh, you can't imagine how happy that makes me!" "I'm glad you are! Let's go meet professor Leon!" "Of course!"

The professor's laboratory was a short walk from home, so the two of them got there in no time. An assistant was waiting for them outside of the building. "Welcome, Alma! Oh, and you came too, Angela!" he greeted them cheerfully. "Well, I came to see Alma's starter choice and report on my Pokédex." Angela replied, nudging her friend with a smile. "As diligent as usual, aren't you?" the assistant chuckled.  
"The professor's waiting for you inside." "Alright. Thanks!" Alma waved at him before entering the lab.

Leon's laboratory was a weird mix of organized and disorganized at the same time. While the books and equipments were in pristine condition, Leon's desk was full of discarded coffee, random notes and occasional scans and pictures all bundled together. Alma wondered how Leon could work in these conditions. Then again, he was always scurrying along research papers and big projects, so he probably didn't have time to breathe.  
His assistants helped him keep the lab clean and in optimal conditions, but they knew Leon's desk was a lost case. They could turn it squeaky clean, and the next day it would look as if a hurricane just casually passed by and decided to mess up that spot in particular. Eventually, they just gave up.

Leon was partially hidden behind a bookshelf. Alma heard weird noises, so she exchanged a worried look with Angela and checked up on him.  
She found him moving a box while carrying three books on his head. When he saw her, he beamed. "Alma! You're here! I was just about to take out the starters."  
Leon had hit his fourties, but he was still as energetic as a teenage boy. His love for reading, science and research fired him up more than anything else. His red hair was tied up in a messy pony, his blue eyes as clear and sparkling as a child's.

"Well, good morning professor" Angela smiled at him, stepping forward. "Angie! What a pleasant surprise! You came to see Alma choose her starter?" "That, and to report on my Pokédex." "What a wonderful girl you are. Could you wait a while? I'd like to give the girls their starter first." Leon said, putting down the box.  
"Wait... the girls?" Alma was confused. She thought she was the only one to receive a starter Pokémon. Leon sighed. "Yeah. I mean, she was supposed to receive it like, one month ago, but she just kept delaying it because of her fashion shows, or whatever."  
Angela scratched her chin. "Huh. That's weird. Usually people can't wait to receive their first Pokémon." "I know, but-" Leon was interrupted by the sound of the door dramatically opening to reveal a really pretty and petite girl. She walked into the lab with her heels clacking and black hair flowing behind her.

Alma was astonished. She dressed beautifully and her makeup was flawless, but she looked no older than her. Leon smiled. "You're here! Alright, then we can begin."  
The new girl looked at Alma disapprovingly. "That shirt doesn't really go with your pants, darling." Then she stared at Angela. "And you look like you didn't even try today." Alma and Angela looked at each other as if they were seeing an alien. "Excuse me, what?" Angela asked.  
"I mean, your sense of fashion could be improved. But it's whatever, I'm not here to judge." "You just did that, though..." Alma stated, a little bit embarassed. She definitely had the voice of a young teen. Whoever that girl was, she didn't look thrilled to see either of them.

"Come on, don't be like that" Leon patted the girl's shoulder. "Try to be friendly. After all, you're both going on your first adventure." "Alright, I guess I'll try." She turned around to face Alma and Angela and declared solemnly: "Name's Miria! Try to remember it. I'm a young fashionista on the rise, the star of the show, and soon-to-be fabulous trainer!"

"Uh... it's a pleasure to meet you, Miria. I'm Alma." She didn't really know what to say. That girl was weird. "I'm Angela." Angela didn't seem thrilled to meet her. Her tone of voice was a bit colder than Alma's, who was just confused.  
Miria didn't seem to catch either of those vibes, though, because she just chuckled. "Very well! Now that we know each other, we can proceed with the ceremony!" "The ceremony?" "Well, the starter giveaway!" A moment of embarassed silence permeated the room.

Finally, Leon broke it with a small cough. "Yeah. Right. So here's your choice. There's three of them, so choose wisely." He offered them the Pokéballs containing the starters. Miria immediately juggled them between her fingers and finally caused them to open, revealing the three Pokémon inside.  
One of them was a cheerful looking blue chimp. As soon as it saw the two of them, it greeted them with a happy chirp-like sound. The other one looked like a strong worker, lifting a chop of wood with a confident smile. Finally, an elegant purple cat, who seemed to be bent on completely ignoring them. It only eyed Miria with a side glance, and seemed satisfied.

"So these three are Panpour, Timburr and Purrloin." Leon stated, pointing fingers when he said their names. "Panpour's a water type. It's friendly, flexible and a great choice as both a companion and a fighter. Timburr's a bit more feisty, likes to work out and train constantly, but it's a solid helping hand in every situation. We're talking about a fighting type, after all. Finally, Purrloin loves to be spoiled, it's agile and ready to fight, but it's more of a loner and a bit more difficult to train. It's a dark type."

Alma examined the three of them intently, thinking about what she would prefer. Panpour seemed fun, Timburr was probably strong and even though Purrloin looked like a challenge, it didn't seem as uninterested in them as it tried to be. If anything, it kept darting his eyes back and forth between Miria and the professor.  
"I've made up my mind!" Miria chirped. Alma looked at her questioningly. "So soon?" "Well, there's nothing that catches my eye more than an elegant, misunderstood Pokémon" she smiled, and took Purrloin in her arms. The cat Pokémon didn't seem to mind.

"Well then, Purrloin is yours" Leon nodded, giving her the Pokéball. "It's a female. Would you like to name her?" "Oh yeah. I'll call her Star. Like me!" Angela rolled her eyes. "You could've just said that without making it about yourself." "And you could've just shut up."  
Sensing some fire going on between them, Leon huffed. "Girls! That's really immature of you." Angela seemed mortified. "I'm sorry, professor." "Sorry, prof" Miria finally apologized, even though she was too preoccupied cuddling her Star to really seem to care.

"So, Alma, you've made your decision?" Leon asked her. She thought about it for a while, then finally made up her mind. "Yeah! I think I'll take Panpour." The chimp chirped happily and threw itself in her arms with an acrobatic jump, startling Alma slightly and making her laugh.  
Timburr seemed a bit defeated, but it still had a fiery determination in its eyes. "Sorry, Timb. Next time." Leon smiled at it, and the fighting type Pokémon nodded. He put it back in the Pokéball, and looked at Alma and her new starter. "You picked a male. What should his name be?" "I'll call him Arin" she decided, and Arin danced happily for his new name.

"Very well. You two are now officially Pokémon trainers!" Leon congratulated them with a pat on the shoulder. "Now you can go around collecting gym badges in preparation for the Pokémon League! Here's your trainer cards and a badge holder." He gave them the items, and realization started setting in for Alma that she was officially starting off her adventure. Her eyes shone brightly.

"Oh, and I have a favor to ask of you. Since you're going to see a lot of Pokémon during your journeys, I'd ask you to take this Pokédex with you. Every time you see a new Pokémon, it'll register its entry within its database, and it's directly connected to my pc, which means it'll help out with my researches as well. Do you accept that?"  
"Of course, professor! It's the least we could do. Thanks a lot!" Alma beamed, taking the object with her. Miria did the same. Angela put her hands together. "That's great! We're travelling pals now, Alma!" "Yep! That's awesome."

Miria looked at her Pokédex, while Star scrambled around her legs. "This thing looks really fancy." "Well, it's a last generation model after all." Leon stated, proudly huffing his chest. Then he turned to the two newbie trainers.  
"Now that you two are officially trainers, I hope you'll have the most amazing, event filled journeys of your lives, filled with victories and success. Remember to always trust your heart and instinct, and never forget that you'll always have your Pokémon by your side." He smiled. "I was a newbie trainer as well, and I'll never forget the pride and accomplishment I felt when I overcame all the difficulties of my journey. It's been a while, but... I believe you'll feel the same way I did."  
"We will make you proud, professor." Alma declared. Miria nodded silently. Even she seemed moved by the professor's words.  
"Great, then... good luck on your journeys!" "Thanks, professor!" the two girl replied almost in unison.

Angela took a step forward. "Professor, about the dex..." "Right! I need to check your dex, right?" "Yes!" "Then stay a while. We'll work on it."  
Angela turned to Alma. "I'll stay here a bit, ok? Good luck, dear." The other girl grinned. "Of course. Thanks for dropping by." They hugged, then Alma waved to both Angie and the professor and exited the building.

When she looked around, Miria was already gone. She had probably gone back to her parents. Alma had to do the same; after all, she had to show her family her new Pokémon.  
She didn't even have to open the door herself; her mother came blasting through, with Haruki scurrying right behind her. "So? How was it? Was it what you expected? More?" her mom asked, with a rapid fire questioning. "Mom! At least let me come in..." "Sorry, dear. I was just too excited!" "I can tell" Alma chuckled.  
Haruki popped up from behind her. "Sis, mom's been raving on and on about you for a good hour now. About time you're back." "Haruki!" his mother exclaimed, seemingly offended by her son's snarkiness. "Anyway, darling, tell me everything!"

Alma sat on the living room's sofa and started narrating her recent encounters: introducing herself to Miria, the professor's explanations and the Pokédex, Angela's return. The more she talked, the more she saw Haruki's eyes spark in genuine interest. She imagined he couldn't wait to get his own little Pokémon as well.  
"That's wonderful!" her mom smiled. "You're going to be a great trainer. I can tell!" "Are you also going to look for papa?" Her little brother inquired.

Suddenly, the atmosphere got a little more tense. Alma shifted uncomfortably. Her father had disappeared ten years ago, after he had declared his intent to look for one of the region's legendary Pokémon. Which one was it, she didn't quite know – her mother didn't like to talk about it, and both her and her brother shared the same curiosity regarding the matter.  
Haruki was two years old at the time, so he only had vague, hazy recollections and tales he had heard from her mother. Alma was six. Sometimes, she still missed him.  
Noticing that the mood in the room had changed, Haruki apologized. "Sorry. I shouldn't bring him up, I know. But..." "I'll do my best to look for him on my way. But before that, I'll have to be strong enough to challenge the Pokémon League."  
He nodded. "I understand."

Her mother smiled, a little forcibly. "Anyway, darling, here's something handy to help you out on your journey." She handed her a box.  
Alma opened it. Inside she found 5 Pokéballs, some money, a pair of Potions and... "Shoes?" "Not just ANY shoes. Those are the latest generation, cool with the kids, dashing gorgeous Running Shoes. They are specifically designed for long journeys, with a sole as strong and tough as a Gigalith and a design as dashing and sleek as a Swanna's feather."

Alma looked confused. Sure, the shoes were really pretty, with those light blue streaks, but she couldn't understand the big deal about them. "Put them on, dear." She did, and she found out that those were, indeed, the most comfortable shoes she had ever worn, and not only that, but they were really puffy. She wouldn't get tired running with these.  
"Those look and feel really nice! Thanks, mom!" She smiled. "Anything for my baby girl." Alma looked down, slightly embarassed. "And if you ever need anything... this is an Xtransceiver. You can use it for calls. Remember to register your friends, so you can call them too." Her mom handed her the item, which slightly resembled a mixture between a watch and a phone but more sophisticated and with a medium sized screen.

She checked it and saw an already saved phone contact: "Mom". Of course. She chuckled. "Thanks for everything, really. I feel like I'm already starting off with a head start." "Oh but you are, darling. Never feel the need to catch up to your younger peers. Always do things at your own pace, live your adventure, and I promise you won't regret it." Her mom gave her a last kiss with a smile and humid eyes. Haruki leaned forward for a hug. "Come see me and mom from time to time, ok?" "Of course." She hugged him, gave one last wave to her family and finally set off on her journey.


	2. Early challenges

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _After receiving her first Pokémon, Alma is ready to begin her journey. Following a run-in with Miria, she visits Accumula Town, then she finally heads to Striaton to challenge her first gym._

Route 1 was peaceful, as always. The path towards the next town was surrounded by a long patch of green grass, verdant and brimming with life. Even though she had already occasionally crossed over to Accumula Town while running errands for her mother, the air seemed new – it smelled of adventure, discoveries and... lavender?

She looked over to see Miria crouching a few metres ahead, apparently cleaning her Purrloin after a fight. "You did great, sweetie! You're going to be a great Pokémon" she cooed to her feline companion, which meowed in response.  
The dark type Pokémon then locked eyes with Alma, staring at her unblinkingly with her intense green eyes. "Mrrow." "Who's there?"

Miria turned to see the young trainer standing next to her. "Oh, it's you." she didn't seem particularly interested in her, and went back to grooming her cat. Alma found the gesture to be a bit off-putting, but she decided to ignore her and go on with her life. She walked away with a shrug. After all, if she didn't care about her, she saw no reason to care either.  
That is, until she heard her shriek like a banshee. She rushed back in, just to see a small Lillipup joyfully waggling its tail and attempting to shower Miria with affection. She seemed absolutely horrified by the little Pokémon. The young girl looked at Alma with anger-filled eyes.

"Well? Don't just stand there doing nothing! Get that THING off me!" Sensing her trainer's terror, Star hissed at the dog, and Lillipup reacted by cowering in fear. "Hey, calm down! You're scaring the poor thing!" Alma exclaimed, jumping in the small dog's defense. "I'm the one scaring it? It rushed in like a moving train!" "Well, you shouldn't be so aggressive! He's just a puppy!" "I don't care! I just want it to go away!"

Alma scoffed. "Well, if you don't want it, I'm going to catch it. I think it's really cute." "Suit yourself!" However, as soon as she turned to face the puppy, she saw it had escaped. She groaned in frustration. "You scared it away with your snarky remarks!" "Maybe it shouldn't have gotten so close to me in the first place, then!" Miria replied, still fuming.

Alma shook her head. "Can you stop being so unpleasant for one second?" "Unpleasant? You've got some nerve! First, you refuse to help, then you act like you're better than everyone and lecturing me on "scaring away" wild dogs. You know what? I'll knock you off your high horse. I challenge you to a battle!"  
The other girl frowned. "If that's the way you want to settle things..." Alma sent out Arin.

Star descended on the battlefield with an elegant spin, and Alma suspected the other girl had taught her the move just to make a dramatic entrance. Her suspicions were confirmed when the trainer gave her cat a thumbs up. "Are you ready to be dazzled?" Miria asked her opponent. "I mean, it's just our first battle, I doubt there'll be any dazzling going on here."

Miria groaned in frustration. "You're such a killjoy! Fine, I'll show you. Star, use Scratch!" The cat dashed towards the monkey with impressive speed, but Alma did not want to concede the first hit. "Avoid it and use Leer!" Arin barely managed to sidestep the hit, and used the split second of his opponent's confusion to use the move, lowering the cat's defense.

"Hey! No fair!" Miria complained. "Uh, it's a battle. What were you expecting me to do?" "Use Scratch again! And this time, hit it!" Star went for the attack again, and recognizing there was not enough time to avoid it this time around, Alma told her Pokémon to counterattack with his own Scratch.  
Star hit the move, wounding the monkey, but was hit as well and took increased damage due to the lowered defense. "You're going to pay for that! Scratch!" Star hit another Scratch, and again Arin countered the hit. The cat was clearly tired by now, her fragile defenses slowing her down under the onslaught of hits.

"Finish her with Scratch!" Alma ordered, and Arin dashed towards Star, landing a final hit that made the Purrloin faint. "Wha- It's over already?" Miria looked stunned as she withdrew her Pokémon. "You just kind of... attacked blindly? I don't think Purrloin has very high defenses, so you should be more careful about that."  
Miria glared at Alma. "I don't need your counseling! And don't get so fired up only because you won your first battle. I'm going to claim the next round! Hmph!"

She gave her some money for her victory and walked away, still fuming, and Alma scratched her head in confusion. "You did well, Arin. Come back." She withdrew the Panpour, and sighed. "What a handful. She's really immature. Well, at least I can get on to Pokémon catching..."  
She looked around, and realized that all the wild Pokémon in the area had either been scared off by the battle, or disappeared due to the noise. Alma groaned in frustration, and resigned herself to trying her luck the next route.

After walking down Route 1 for a while, she finally saw her next destination – Accumula Town. The town had always been one of her favorite places. Some people dismissed it as a mere checkpoint on the road to Striaton City, but Alma really liked the peaceful atmosphere, the rustic houses and the people living there.  
They all knew her by now - Accumula and Nuvema were pretty close and there was a lot of back and forth going on between the two. Accumula had the Pokémon Center and Market going for it, after all.

"Hello there, Alma! Looking as radiant as ever!" An old lady greeted her. Alma cheerfully waved back. "Thank you very much! So do you!" She entered the Pokémon Center and walked up to Nurse Joy, excited to show her her first Pokémon. "Oh, Alma! What do we have here?" The nurse asked her, looking at the Pokéball she was holding.

"My first Pokémon!" Alma replied with a big grin on her face. "Oh! I'm so happy for you. Did it get into a fight already?" She took Arin's ball from her hands and went on to heal him. "Well, you could say that! A trainer challenged me." "Already! You're all so full of energy. Be careful not to injure yourselves during your journey, but if that happens, you know who to call!" The nurse gave her Arin back after the brief healing session. "I'll hold you to that." Alma chuckled.

"Oh, speaking of which, it might be a good idea to stock up on Potions, since the routes from here on out are going to be a bit longer." Nurse Joy suggested. "That's a good idea. I'll go get some from the Market. Thanks again!" Alma waved to the woman and went on to buy 5 potions with the allowance her mom gave her before starting her adventure.

She was about to leave when she bumped into someone. "Hey! Be more careful while- oh." Alma recognized Miria almost immediately. She looked flustered and... a bit ashamed, it seemed. "I apologize, I didn't mean to-" The other girl sighed. "No, I should be the one apologizing. I treated you rudely and it ended with my darling Star getting hurt."

Alma blinked slowly. Did Miria just... say she was sorry? "Don't look at me like that, ok? Don't get the wrong idea. I'm only letting you off the hook this time because you defeated me. Next time, I'll be sure to teach you a lesson." "Oookay. Good to see you too. Have a nice day."

She waved to the other girl, and Miria hesitantly waved back before going back to shopping. 'She keeps getting weirder and weirder' Alma thought, exiting the Pokémon Center with more questions than answers.  
After strolling down Accumula a few more times, mostly to say hi to old acquaintances, listen to some good music in her pianist friend house and enjoy a bit of fresh air before moving on, Alma was ready to take on Route 2.

As Nurse Joy had warned her, Route 2 was noticeably longer than Route 1, and judging by the young boys and girls running around, it was probably fertile ground for battling as well. She spotted some rustling in the tall grass as well, probably a sign that some wild Pokémon were hiding in there.  
"Alright, I'm ready for round two" Alma muttered, sending out Arin as she scouted for any wild encounter. Suddenly, a Patrat saw her and the hairs on its tail stood up in alert. It seemed slightly unsettled by her presence, but ready to fight if needed.

"We've got ourselves one! Come on, Arin, Scratch!" The monkey ran at its opponent, and even if it seemed to be ready to fight, it clearly wasn't expecting the Panpour's speed. It was weakened by a powerful Scratch that looked like it had to hurt more than usual. Before it could retaliate, Alma threw a Pokéball at it and after a short while, it signalled a successful capture.

"Nice! That was easy enough." She checked the Pokédex for Patrat's description, and seeing the specimen she caught was a female, decided to call her Nicky. "I should really heal her up a bit if I want to use her in battle." She used a potion and walked across the route, training with wild Pokémon.

Soon, Nicky had caught up to Arin's strength and was ready to prove her worth. And as it turns out, she would prove it soon enough.  
"Trainer!" A young boy, dressed in orange and with a backwards hat that was probably supposed to make him look cool, approached her. "You seem weak! Let's battle!" "Hey, that's kind of rude, don't you think?" Alma scolded him, but she was up for the challenge.

They both sent out their Pokémon; the young boy had a scrappy-looking Lillipup, and Alma sent out her new member Nicky. "Go, Lil'P! Use Tackle!" The dog, apparently called Lil'P, dashed forward to deliver the hit. Nicky got hit, though she managed to retaliate with a Tackle of her own.

"Alright! Lil'P, again!" "Nicky, sidestep!" With a snappy jump, Nicky avoided sideways and hit the dog Pokémon with Tackle. "Lil'P! Use Leer!" "Interrupt him with Tackle!" Nicky seemed to hesitate when the Lillipup glared at her menacingly, but she snapped out of it quickly and hit another Tackle, leaving him with little health.

"Oh no! But it's not time to give up yet! Tackle her to the ground!" The incoming hit seemed to be pretty powerful – Alma looked around for some terrain to use to her advantage, and it hit her. "Nicky, dive in the tall grass!" The Patrat obeyed, disappearing from sight, and when the Lillipup looked around nervously, she reemerged with a strong Tackle, knocking him out.

"Hey! No fair!" Her opponent grumbled. Alma sighed. "Why do all trainers I face say the same things?" "What a pain... fine, rules are rules." The young kid paid Alma for her victory and stormed off. She withdrew Nicky after giving her an appreciative pat on the head. "You did well, young one! We're gonna have a good time together." The Patrat smiled before going back inside the ball.  
With the route finally clear, she was free to enter Striaton City.

Rustic, welcoming yet with a modern touch given to it by the research facility near the Dreamyard, Striaton City was the location of the first badge, and Alma's first big hurdle. The gym leader, Aurora, was a tough cookie to crack, and the newbie trainer knew she had to do a bit of grinding and learning before facing her head on.  
And what better way to improve her Pokémon skills than attending the Trainers' School?

After healing up her mons at the Center, she headed straight for the Trainers' School, in the northern part of the city. Alma smiled seeing the hopeful newbies gathered around the facility, and she was let in by a teacher. "The lecture begins at 11 o' clock sharp. Don't be late, don't disrupt the lesson, and do your best."

She entered the school, marvelling at the modern architecture. While passing, she noticed a golden tag: "The Striaton City Trainers' School is eternally grateful for the generous funding of Ester Auguste Laurent".  
She vaguely recalled hearing that name in the news before, but she couldn't quite place it. Alma decided to move on and think about it later, or she would've been late to the lecture.

Once in class, she sat down and took out a notebook, ready to listen to the teacher, when she saw someone familiar. Miria was there as well, but for some reason she was wearing a blonde wig and a very heavy jacket. She looked as suspicious as it could get, and a few people were staring at her already.  
Before she could get the chance to talk to her, the lecture began. Alma diligently wrote down everything and even scribbled down parts of the practical demonstration offered by the teacher's assistants. When the bell rang and everyone was dismissed, she rushed to talk to Miria, who was already trying to leave in a hurry.

"Hey, Miria!" she called out. Miria froze in place and slowly turned to face her, shushing her with a finger. "What?" Alma asked, confused. Already some kids were watching to see what the ruckus was about.  
"Alma, not now! Let's get out of here first." Before she could protest, Miria grabbed her not-so-elegantly and got her out of the facility.

"Ok, now are you going to tell me what the hell is this all about?" Alma asked once they got out, annoyed. "I can't let other people see me here! It's embarassing." Miria scoffed. Alma blinked slowly. "What?" "Ahhh... I'm supposed to be good at this trainer thing. Apparently, I'm not. So I went in to study. But I don't want other people to know."

The other trainer grew more and more confused as time went on. "I don't understand. We're all newbies here, and you suffered one loss, so what? Nothing is set in stone. And I don't understand why you're so secretive about it." Miria groaned, frustrated. "You don't get it, do you? Please, just... go away. I don't want to talk about it."

"Why are you so weird around people? I just want to help!" "Well, I didn't ask for your help! And you're not helping by being so... overly... nosy!" Miria stormed off, clearly embarassed and distraught. Alma stood there, confusion and hurt welling up inside her. She had no idea why Miria was behaving like that, but she clearly didn't want her around.  
"Whatever." The trainer muttered, gripping her bag tighter. 'I'd better go train a little in the Dreamyard. I'm wasting my time here.'

The Dreamyard was nothing other than the remains of an abandoned research facility. After the citizens had deemed the place a safety hazard, the gym leader Aurora had taken it upon herself to at least make it more secure, for both people and wild Pokémon. After months of hard work, the building had been stabilized and any signs of safety hazards were removed, at least on the ground floor. The basement was more unstable, and thus had been blocked to the public.

Alma strolled around the place, marvelling at the air of mystery still surrounding it. The research facilities had been moved to Striaton City, but she wasn't sure what had made everyone abandon the Dreamyard.  
After battling some wild Pokémon and even running into some Munnas and Musharnas, she definitely felt stronger: Nicky and Arin had both learned some new moves that would prove useful in the battles to come.

She was about to leave the place when she heard some weird noises, and a faint cry. Alma rushed to check who it was, and saw a girl who had to be just a few years older than her, consoling a Munna that was trembling in her arms. "Shh, shh, it's okay. It's just a fallen barrel. No one's going to hurt you." The girl's tone was low and soothing, and soon the Munna stopped trembling and floated away.  
Alma tried to come closer, but she stepped on a branch and alerted the other girl, who rose up and turned to face her. "And who would you be?" she asked. Alma recognized her face from the news and let out a tiny gasp. "You're Aurora, the gym leader!"

"That would be me, yes." She eyed her inquisitively. "You're a new trainer? I'm sorry for being absent from the gym. I have to check on the Dreamyard periodically. It has a very delicate ecosystem."  
"It's not a problem. I actually came here to train." Alma replied sheepishly. "I see. It doesn't hurt to get a bit of training in before facing the gym, I suppose." Aurora packed her things and got up to leave. "I'm going to go back to my job, so we'll meet there. May the best woman win, and don't underestimate me. I'm not going to go easy on you only because I'm the first gym leader."

With that remark, she left, and Alma scratched her neck nervously. "I guess it's time, huh? Let's make my training count."  
She exited the Dreamyard, her Pokéballs in hand. She felt a tinge of excitement mixed with anticipation.  
Her first gym battle. She couldn't wait.

The Striaton City gym stood out from the other buildings because of its clean, white walls and, of course, the gym insignia shining on top of it. It almost looked like the modern version of the facility in the Dreamyard, which was no surprise since it was a Psychic type gym.  
Alma had come prepared, with both her Pokémon knowing super effective moves, but she feared it wasn't enough on its own. The few extra experience her Pokémon had gained while battling would've helped, too.

She gripped Arin and Nicky's Pokéballs tighter. 'Wish me luck, and let's do our best' she thought, before entering the building.  
There was a reception desk right at the entrance, with a cheerful young lady beaming at her. "Hello, challenger! Are you here to face the gym leader?" "Yes, if possible." "Is it your first gym battle?" "Yes!" "Great. I'm going to notify her right away." She dialed a number on her phone and after a short while, Alma was allowed inside the battle stage.

It looked... plain, oddly enough. She had heard the gym leaders would challenge trainers with tricky terrains and unexpected surprises, but there was no sign of such a thing happening, at least here in Striaton City.  
The battle referee confirmed her suspicions when she told her the terrain was not modified for a trainer's first battle. "The terrain modifiers are only for the second badge forward." he explained to her. "I see." She assumed her position in front of the field.

Aurora arrived shortly after. She had changed into her gym uniform; as the Psychic gym leader, the uniform was bright pink, which complemented her rose hair and green eyes pretty well.

"Welcome, challenger." Her tone was formal and she sounded noticeably colder than her regular voice. "As this is your first challenge, I'll explain the rules. This match will be a 2v2. Only the challenger is allowed to switch Pokémon. No items allowed, not even held ones. The battle stage, as you can see, presents no hazards for now. Those rules are the same for every gym; only the number of Pokémon battling and the terrain will change. Do you have any other questions?"  
Alma shook her head. "No, I'm good. Thanks." "Great. Then let the gym challenge begin!"

Alma sent out her first Pokémon, and so did Aurora. Nicky was out on the field against a Munna. Knowing the Patrat was up against quite the slow Pokémon, she decided to take the initiative. "Nicky, use Crunch!" As she had predicted, Munna was too slow to avoid the hit – she took a hefty amount of damage, but still seemed pretty healthy all things considered. "Cepheus, Trick Room." Aurora ordered, apparently unphazed by the hit her mon had just endured.

Trick Room? Alma's eyes widened as the battlefield became distorted. Suddenly, Nicky's limbs seemed extremely heavy, and Munna was able to hit her with a powerful Psyshock. Trick Room turned Nicky's speed against her, making her slower than Munna. Plus, the Patrat's frailty made her unable to stomach too many hits.  
After a bit of consideration, Alma decided her best play would've been to switch. Arin was a bit bulkier in the defense department, and had the best chance to survive against more hits. Without her speed, Nicky was pretty much helpless against a powerful special attacker like Munna.

"Alright, Nicky, come back! Go, Arin!" The Patrat returned inside the ball and Arin was sent out. The Panpour looked around, a bit unsettled by Trick Room. "Cepheus, go for Psyshock again!" "Arin, brace yourself for the impact and use Bite to retaliate!" Arin managed to avoid taking too much damage. The dark type move hit Munna hard, and for a second his opponent hesitated, giving the Panpour the opening to land a second Bite.

The battle was looking up, but Cepheus managed to land another powerful Psyshock before going down to another Bite. "Munna is no longer able to battle!" The referee announced, confirming the KO. Arin was a bit roughed up, and considering both him and Nicky were pretty badly hurt, Alma hoped her next Pokémon was a bit easier to handle. Still, Trick Room this early on was a nasty surprise. She wondered what else the Psychic type gym leader had in store for her.

"Good job, Cepheus. You can rest now." The Munna was recalled inside his ball. "Well played, challenger, you handled it well. Let's see how you fair against my last Pokémon." She sent out a Solosis. Trick Room was still up, but it would've expired soon. Alma needed to stall it out before she could hope to face the Pokémon.  
"Orion, use Psyshock!" The Psychic type was really fast in Trick Room, and her only hope was that Arin would've survived the hit.

"Arin, try to avoid it! You can do it, I know it!" The Panpour struggled to lift his limbs, and managed to narrowly avoid the brunt of the hit, but would've been knocked out by the next attack for sure. "Use Lick!" Alma ordered. Arin hit Solosis with the super effective move, and in that exact instant Trick Room expired, allowing Arin to move freely again.

"Trick Room!" "Oh no, you don't! Arin, Bite!" The Panpour rushed down the Solosis before he could set Trick Room again, but was intercepted mid-air by a powerful Psyshock. Arin fell to the ground. "Panpour is unable to battle!" Alma withdrew the water-type Pokémon. "You did well. Rest up, Nicky'll handle it from here."

Alma sent out her Patrat, who was still injured by the previous fight but seemed to have recovered a little bit. "Nicky, go with Crunch!" Finally able to outspeed, the Patrat jumped on the Solosis. The hit lowered the opponent's defense. "Orion, tough it out and use Psyshock!" The Solosis attacked with the Psychic type move, and Nicky fell to the ground, severely injured.  
Alma's breath caught in her throat, wondering whether Nicky was down...

But the Normal type rose up again, ready to fight despite her roughed up state. "That's it! Nicky, Crunch!" "Orion, don't let her touch you! Psyshock!" With the defense drop, the next hit would've brought down the opponent – but by sheer desperation and force of will, Nicky was able to leap at him and hit the move before taking any damage.

"Solosis is unable to battle! The victory goes to challenger, Alma from Nuvema Town!" "YES!" After the victory, Alma was unable to conceal her excitement any longer. She rushed to hug Nicky, who protested weakly. "Oh, right! You're hurt. I'm sorry, I'll rush to heal you as soon as I'm done here. You did great."  
The Patrat smiled before being withdrawn, as Aurora walked towards her.

"Great job. You played it smart and managed to pull through. Here's your gym badge." The gym leader complimented her. She gave her the Mind Gym and a badge case, and Alma put the badge in the case after thanking her. Aurora's tone turned serious. "But the battles ahead are much tougher. Be sure to get enough preparations done. Here's a little gift."

She gave her the Technical Machine for Psyshock. "It's a powerful Psychic type move that hits on the defensive side instead of the special defense. It's great for getting rid of special walls. If you ever get a psychic type in your team, I suggest you try it – it has infinite uses anyway." Aurora explained. "Thank you very much. It was an exciting battle." "I enjoyed myself too. Hope you have a great journey."

After waving her goodbye, Alma exited the building, exhaling in relief. That battle was tougher than she had expected. In the upcoming battles, she needed to be mindful of the opponent's strategies.  
Right at that moment, her Xtransceiver rang. She picked it up. "Hello, darling! How's the adventure going?" Her mother asked. "Great, actually. I've just picked up my first gym badge!" "Already? I'm so proud of you! You're doing amazing. I'm sure you'll become a stellar Trainer!"

Alma chuckled, embarassed. "I hope so." "I'm sure of it. So now you're heading to Nacrene?" "Yeah. I'm going there to challenge the second gym leader." "That's great. Take your time, though. The best part of your adventure is getting to know the people and the Pokémon of our beautiful region. So, remember to enjoy yourself and take it slow sometimes as well."  
"Thanks, mom. I'll remember that. I'll have to cut you off now, though. I still need to heal my mons after the battle!" "Yes, go do that! Call me if you ever need anything, alright?" "Yeah. Thanks, mom."


	3. Trouble in paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Alma heads out to Route 3 after earning her first badge. After an eventful rematch with Miria, she is informed by Angela and the professor that things might be starting to get dangerous..._

After healing up her team, Alma felt ready to take on the world, and most importantly her next stepping stone, Route 3. Knowing that her next gym would be the Ice type, she had to catch something that could handle them well.  
'Ice is pretty weak against Fire, Rock, Fighting and Steel. And I have no moves of any of those types... I'll have to prepare myself in some way. I can't afford to go in blindly this time.' she thought, fidgeting with her Pokéballs as she headed out to Route 3.

The road seemed even more mazy than Route 2. She could see a little school filled with children up ahead and the Pokémon Day Care. Since she had no interest in breeding and she had too few Pokémon to leave someone there, she had decided to skip the Day Care and proceed on her journey, when she saw a familiar face.

She was a bit hesitant to approach Miria upon recognizing her, but Alma knew she had to get some answers after their turbulent encounter in Striaton City. She walked up to her. "Hey... hi." Great start, she thought facepalming in her head. Miria turned to look at her. Her expression didn't change. "Oh. Hi." "How are you?" "I'm good. Been training here for a while." "Really! You're here to train too?" "You could say that." Miria mumbled. "But I have a more important request. Battle me."

Alma blinked, confused. "Right now?" "Yeah. I'll let you know, I've become stronger since our last encounter." "Alright, if you want to battle I'm up for it." Having accepted the challenge, the young trainer was ready to face her rival and put on a good show for the children who had stopped playing around the school and started curiously watching them.

"It's time to get revenge! Go on, Glimmer!" Glimmer was a graceful looking Blitzle, her black coat sizzling with electricity. "I see you've gotten a new member for yourself! Alright, go Nicky!" The Patrat came out of the ball ready to fight, her eyes darting from one side to another before finally settling on her opponent.  
"Glimmer, start out the show! Use Charge!" Miria's Pokémon started powering up, increasing her special defense and increasing the power of its next Electric move.

"Use the time to recharge to your advantage! Crunch!" Alma was fishing for defense drops, and overall Crunch was stronger than Tackle - it hit pretty hard, but so did the Shock Wave coming from her opponent. With Charge before it, Nicky was already in a pretty rough spot. "Another Shock Wave!" "Nicky, brace yourself for the hit and use another Crunch!"

Nicky endured the hit, and the move sizzled around her, giving her time to use Crunch. Glimmer snorted, avoiding the Dark type move with a graceful trot that left the Patrat in the dust.  
"Now that she's immobilized! Thunder Wave!" Alma's eyes widened as Nicky was shocked by the electric type move. Paralyzed and badly hurt, the normal type was pretty much done, and a final Shock Wave sent her packing, even though she did manage to land a last, weakened Tackle.

"Well, good job! That was some pretty impressive battling prowess." Alma admitted, withdrawing Nicky. Miria's blushed slightly. "Thanks. Appreciate it." Her last Pokémon was Arin, and even though he was weak to electricity, she was pretty sure another hit would've floored the dangerous Blitzle. Plus, she couldn't afford to get hit by a Shock Wave or a Thunder Wave, or she would've been in a rough state to face her opponent's Purrloin waiting in the wings.

"Alright, it's up to you! Go, Arin!" The Panpour exited the Pokéball with a smile, landing on his hands before getting ready to battle. "You need to knock her out with a hit, otherwise we're toast." Arin nodded, rubbing his hands in anticipation. "Good. Use Water Gun!" "Shock Wave!" Blitzle was faster, but tired out from Nicky's attacks she ended up moving a bit too slow and was unable to block the water type move, falling to the ground.

"You fought very well, Glimmer. Come back." It came down to the starters, once again. "Go, Star. Make me proud." The Purrloin got out of the ball with an agile jump, landing perfectly on its feet. "Now you're just showing off." Alma chuckled. "Battles are a spectacle to behold too, no?" "That's... true, actually. Can't fault you for that."

"Star, use Pursuit!" "Counter with Water Gun!" The Purrloin darted towards Arin, but he hit her with his tail momentarily blinding her before countering with Water Gun. All soaked, the cat Pokémon didn't seem too happy about it. If anything, it made her angrier - she lashed out with a flurry of attacks with Fury Swipes, hitting a fair number of times before Arin managed to get her off him with a well placed Scratch.

"Use Water Gun again!" "Assist!" Assist? Remembering that she still had a Blitzle with plenty of electric type moves, Alma's eyes widened - fortunately (or unfortunately), Assist picked Thunder Wave and despite hitting Water Gun, Arin was paralyzed. Star took advantage of her foe's compromised state to hit him with another flurry of Furry Swipes.

'That's no good... if it keeps going on like this, he's going to faint before he can land the finishing blow!' "Assist!" This time, Star got Charge - which meant that Water Gun wouldn't have done as much damage, and Alma's best bet was to hit her with physical moves and hope for a KO. "Pull through, Arin! Use Fury Swipes yourself!" Panting but still ready to go, Arin lunged on Star and hit her hard.

"Assist!" Miria ordered, her tone increasingly urgent. "Still fishing for Shock Wave? I won't let you! Arin, Fury Swipes!" Another Fury Swipes, and Star was almost done - right in that moment, though, Assist did get her Shock Wave. In a last, desperate attempt, Alma ordered: "Quick, finish her off with Scratch!"

In the flash of light that followed, neither Alma nor Miria managed to see what had happened - finally, when the light wore off, both Arin and Star had gone down. "Wait, that's not right! Who went down first?" Miria asked frantically.  
"I believe that's a tie, since we can't determine who was knocked out first. I was wondering what had kept the children so quiet..." A young teacher made her appearance, looking over the battle.

The children, who had watched quietly until that moment, clearly rapt by the battle, erupted in cheers. "Yay, nice battle!" "So cool!" "The girl in blue won!" "No, the fashionable one won!" Alma scratched the back of her neck, embarassed. "Man, I can't believe how much you've improved since the last battle. You had me cornered there." "That's... still not good enough. I needed to win."

Miria sighed. "I guess I'm still not good enough at this Trainer thing yet." "Are you kidding? You both put up a show." The teacher approached them, offering cookies that the girls gladly accepted. Finally, her eyes settled on Miria. "Wait... haven't I seen you somewhere already?" The young girl shook her head energetically. "Nope! Absolutely not." "You're sure? Hmm, if you say so..."

"Yep. Great. We'll be going now. We have important trainer things to attend!" "Trainer... things?" Alma raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Trainer things." Miria gave her a killer look and Alma slowly nodded. "Yeaaaah. Trainer things." "Well, good luck on your journeys, girls. And thanks for the show. I really needed some peace and quiet, although..." The teacher sighed. "They're going to be really difficult to calm down after witnessing such an exciting battle."

She went back to the children, and Alma took Miria aside. "Are you going to tell me why you keep doing this? It's almost as if you don't want to be recognized by other people. Are you hiding something from me?" "Why would I be hiding something from you? And even if I was, it's not your business." Alma sighed. "Fine. If you don't want to tell me, it's fine. Just... please, stop making things so awkward between us. I'm sorry for what happened at the Trainer School. It's clear I've done something to make you uncomfortable, and it wasn't my intention."

Miria blinked. "It's... you didn't... ugh, now you're the one making things weird! I was just miffed that you seemed to want to humiliate me so badly." "I would never do that! Look, let's start over, ok? Let's be rivals from now on. I really enjoyed our last battle, and would love to have a do over sometime." "Really? Alright. Since you're so insistent, I guess I have no choice but to accept."  
Alma rolled her eyes, but they shaked hands and agreed to be rivals from that time on. Right when they were about to backtrack to the Pokémon Center to heal their Pokémon, Miria spotted Angela and the professor hanging around the area, apparently looking for something.

"Hey, do you have any idea what Angela and professor Leon are doing here?" Miria asked. Alma shook her head. "None whatsoever. Shall we go ask?" "Sure. Maybe they can even heal our Pokémon. I've heard the professor carries quite the supply of healing items on him at all time." "Oh, you're right! Let's go. Professor! Angie! Good afternoon!"  
The girls ran up to them, and though the two seemed initially surprised to see them there, they greeted them and Leon accepted to heal their Pokémon as well. "It's good to see you here!" Alma smiled at her best friend. Angela nodded. "Likewise! Unfortunately, the reason we're here is not as nice." "What do you mean?"

Angela looked at Leon. "I think they ought to know. They are travelling, after all. If anything were to happen..." "You're right. You see, recently there have been rumors of a terrorist group roaming Unova." "Terrorists?" "Yeah. Certain faculties have been raided, there have been acts of vandalism and so on and so forth. We've been tracking their movements, but there doesn't seem to be any underlying reason for their actions except causing chaos."

Alma furrowed her brow. "Well, that's worrying." "Yeah. Of course, the police and the gym leaders have already been involved and are working to gather intel and work to make sure people are protected." Angela explained. "I've decided to aid the investigation myself, and take the opportunity to do some field research while I'm at it." Leon added. "I've talked with the Daycare owner, because it seems some weird people were spotted heading to Nacrene lately, but we couldn't confirm their identities, so that lead's been a dead end."

Miria looked unsettled by the new information. "What about Nimbasa City? Have there been any attacks there?" "Right, your mom works there. No, not as far as we know... Tom, Nimbasa City's gym leader, is keeping the situation under control. If the incidents were to escalate, well, we might have to put blockades around the cities. Fortunately, the Laurent company is offering financial support as well, so we can rest assured that the situation will be resolved quickly."

"Let's hope so." Angela nodded. Alma thought about it for a second. "Oh, yeah! Laurent is the family name of Ester Auguste Laurent! She's that famous billionaire owning that huge company, right?" She recalled reading her name in the Trainer School, and it finally clicked. "Yes. With our forces and their finances, we will be in the clear soon. But until then... be safe, ok girls? Don't do anything reckless." Leon smiled at them. "We'll be going now. But first, do you both have an Xtransceiver? Let's exchange numbers so we can keep each other updated."

Alma and Miria shared their numbers with the professor and they all saved their respective contacts. "Alright, see you around! Good luck for everything." Angela waved at them before going away with the professor.  
Once they were both gone, Alma turned to face Miria. "Man, things keep getting wilder and wilder." "Yeah. Let's hope everything turns out okay." "It will. We have some great people on the chase. Have faith." "I wish I had half your optimism, but I'll try. I think I'll go train for a bit now. I want to be ready when I face Sakura." "Likewise. See you around, Miria." "Yeah. See you around."

Alma decided to explore the cave in Route 3, Wellspring Cave, to hopefully catch a Rock type Pokémon that would've helped her against Sakura. As luck would have it, her first encounter, hidden behind a massive boulder near the entrance, was a Roggenrola, who was napping quietly but woke up when hearing Alma's footsteps.

He walked up to her defiantly, as to warn her she was messing with the wrong rock, and was immediately almost knocked out by Arin's water gun and captured soon after. "Well, that was... something. This little guy doesn't hate me, does he?" She got him out of his ball, and he seemed neither sadder nor happier about his new situation.  
If anything, he seemed pretty indifferent about it, and quickly ran off to chase a cloud of sand that formed inside the cave.

'He seems to have... a pretty short attention span. We'll see whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. For now, I'll call him Marble.' She recalled him inside the Pokéball before a Drilbur coming out of the cloud could maim him, and exited the cave, since she couldn't explore it much further anyway.

After fighting some more trainers and gathering some new items, Alma found herself facing a wild Pidove with Nicky. After knocking it out, the Patrat's body began to slowly change into something else, and the trainer watched in wonder as her team member evolved into Watchog.  
"My first evolution! That's great! And, uh, you've become quite tall." The newly evolved Normal type looked at her shaking her head. "Sorry, sorry! I'm really happy you grew so strong so quickly, that's all."

Alma smiled confidently. "With such a team, there's no way we can lose. Let's head to Nacrene!" Nicky nodded and allowed herself to be withdrawn as her trainer made her way to Nacrene, finally entering the city, home to the second badge.


	4. Friends in high places

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Nacrene City reveals itself to be full of surprises for Alma. At an eventful birthday party, she meets gym leader Sakura and the renowned Ester. Her second badge awaits..._

The trip to Nacrene had been pretty long, but it was worth it. The city was bigger than Striaton, and was bustling with all kinds of people. It had a unique feel to it, with its layout and buildings, and seemed to be a fluorishing center of life and art.  
Alma looked around, marveling at every new detail she caught - while she toured the city, she saw people standing in queue at a department store, a bustling café with a lively entourage of street artists, and the museum that doubled as a gym.

If she wanted to have a shot at battling Sakura, she knew she had to go to the museum to check whether she was available or not. When she came in, she found it pretty deserted. She scratched her head in confusion, and seeing her puzzled looks one of the staffers came forth to explain.  
"You're here for the gym challenge or to visit the museum?" "Uh, both I guess, but maybe it's not a good time?" "Well, today it's our gym leader's birthday! You can find her at the Café Warehouse just nearby. I can tell her you came by if you leave your name, or you can just go talk to her yourself. Your choice!"

Alma thought about it for a little, then she smiled. "I think I'll go wish her a happy birthday myself, and then go ask for her for the nearest available slot for a battle. Thanks!" "No problem. Have a good day!" She waved at the staffer and got out of the museum. The sun was setting, but the party at the Café Warehouse gave no signs of stopping.

She cautiously entered the building, and was surprised by the sheer amount of people there. A chatty young man who she recognized as Daku, the fifth gym leader, was laughing with a group of ladies. Emerald, the third gym leader, was cheering up the crowd with a sick breakdance routine, and then she saw the birthday girl herself, holding a bouquet of white flowers and blushing intensely.

"Thank you, thank you! You're too kind!" She waved at everyone, and then she was lifted up on the stage, where Emerald was just finished up with her dance. The other gym leader winked at her and passed her the mic. "Thank you, everyone, for coming here on this day! I am happy to celebrate my twentieth birthday with every single one of you!"

Sakura smiled as the crowd clapped and cheered. "Today is a very good day indeed, not only for me, but for the entire city! A very special guest and a friend of mine gave me a wonderful gift that I want to share with all of you. The esteemed Ester Auguste Laurent herself not only freed up her busy schedule to come visit, but she gave me the best birthday gift ever: a generous donation to the Nacrene City Museum, which I will use to renovate and expand so we can all share the history of Unova across the world!"

There was an explosion of loud cheering and whistling. Sakura waited for it to quiet down before talking again. "I want to thank every single person that has helped me make this city as wonderful as it is today, and I hope we'll be able to keep improving it forevermore! Now, Ester, would you please come on stage?"

"Me? Oh, but you're too kind. I don't deserve this kind of attention."  
Alma turned to see, as did everyone else. Standing there in the crowd, commanding attention with her elegant yet simple red dress, natural makeup, deep green gaze, imposing stature and quiet yet stern voice, stood a woman that had to be in her early twenties. She walked forward and the crowd parted in stunned reverence as she took the stage, her brown hair flowing behind her.

"Thank you again, Ester. Truly. From the bottom of my heart." Sakura smiled, as the woman looked at her fondly. "Oh, it's no biggie. It's the least I could do for you, after everything you did for me." She clapped briskly, and a pair of bodyguards hurriedly arrived with a case.  
Sakura opened it to find an enormous check, and she was almost moved to tears as everyone took photos and chatted excitedly.

"Hooray for Sakura! Hooray for Ester!" The crowd erupted in a chant. Alma joined in soon after, and when the celebrations were over, she finally managed to slip through the endless sea of people congratulating the gym leader and walked up to Sakura.  
"Hello! Um, happy birthday." "Thank you, dear. You are...?" "Alma from Nuvema Town. I wanted to ask you if you would be able to challenge me sometime this week?" "For sure, dear! I've got a free slot in three days. Sorry I can't do it sooner, but I've got to work hard to sort out the burocracy and start renovating the museum."

Alma nodded. "I get it, don't worry. Sorry for butting in on your very special day and boring you with work stuff." Sakura laughed. "It's no biggie. I'm happy to face new aspiring champions, and it's still my duty as a gym leader to be available whenever necessary." "Thank you very much!" "Oh, and please feel free to enjoy the buffet and stay a while longer if you feel like it. There's plenty to eat and drink for everyone. Ah- I fear I need to go now. My fiancée is waiting for me. See you soon, dear. I'll schedule your encounter as soon as I talk to my assistant in the museum, ok?" "Yeah. Thank you for everything!" She waved her goodbye as she disappeared again.

After an hour of cheerful eating, drinking and partying had passed, she was starting to feel a bit woozy due to fatigue, and she headed for the bathroom to wash her hands and face. While she was going there, she heard a faint but seemingly pretty heated discussion. She recognized Ester's voice, but not the other, male one. Her curiosity got the best of her and she got a bit closer.

"I thought we talked about this already." Ester's tone was harsh, completely different from the one she had used while talking to everyone at the party. "And yet you keep up this farce. Come on, Ester. We both know that it's not going to end well." "What I do with my life is none of your business."

The male voice sighed, exhasperated. "Fine. Don't come to me when you end up regretting your life choices." Alma panicked when she heard footsteps, and scrambled to hide, but couldn't do so in time. She saw the male talking to Ester and was breathless for a good second: he was tan, wore a dark leather jacket, and had black, shoulder-length hair and odd but beautiful red eyes.

He saw her as well, and for a second his gaze turned cold. She shrank in place, knowing her curiosity had probably led to this awkward encounter. Then, he left without saying another word.  
Alma tiptoed away to avoid a confrontation with Ester as well, and only when she closed the bathroom door she managed to breathe.

Only then, the realization set in.  
That male was Ryo, and he was the seventh gym leader. She had no idea why him and Ester were even arguing, but it should've been none of her business. 'This is so embarassing... I hope that by the time I see him again, he'll have forgotten all about this whole ordeal.' she thought to herself.

She started washing her hands and face with warm water, when the bathroom door opened. Alma saw Ester in the mirror and her breath caught in her chest. Up close, she was even more beautiful, and she seemed to notice her stare. She smiled and started washing her hands herself before beginning to fix up her makeup.

"You seem to be pretty surprised to see me here." Ester broke the silence. Her tone was back to the cool one she had used during her speech, but colored with a hint of... fondness? amusement? Alma couldn't tell. For a good second, she couldn't even speak. "Well, I wasn't expecting an important figure such as yourself to make an appearance at all." she confessed.  
She panicked slightly when she realized she sounded more bored and condescending than what she would've liked to. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

She panicked even further when she saw Ester getting closer to her, an amused smile on her face. " _Relax_. I'm not going to eat you." "Ah... I'm-" "Don't apologize. You're just wasting your breath. How do I look?" Alma looked up to meet her eyes, and could barely hold her gaze for two seconds before looking down. "Uh, beautiful. Like, really really beautiful. Like "I wish I could be as pretty as you" beautiful."

"You get flustered really easily. You've got to be a little stronger if you want to take on the world." For a second, her tone turned cold. "It's full of wolves out there, after all. Showing weakness is going to get you killed."  
Alma's hands started to tremble. She had no idea whether she should've been horrified or fascinated by her sudden change of character.

"Well, I'm done here, so I'll be going." Ester smiled at her. "I'm glad you liked my makeup. I always try to look my best out there. It's nice to have someone appreciating that. Have a good evening." When the door closed, Alma thought she was going to have a heart attack.  
"Too many emotions for my poor little heart. Maybe I should call it a day." she mumbled to herself.

For a second, she saw Ester's face in the mirror again, smiling at her with those pretty eyes.  
Then the illusion disappeared, and Alma was left with her own, bewildered face staring back at her.

The party kept going for the rest of the night, but the young trainer didn't feel like staying for the entire thing after what had happened. She went to bed pretty early, and passed the next days before the gym encounter training in the nearby Pinwheel Forest and devising a strategy to take down Sakura.  
Her best bet was probably to lead with Marble and see how far the Rock type could take her, softening up the enemy team enough so Nicky or Arin could finish the job.

She had considered using Stealth Rock as well, but since it was still a 2v2 and not yet a 3v3, she wondered whether it was worth or not it if the hazards would've just weakened one Pokémon. After some consideration, she came up with a plan and got ready to fight with some last moveset changes and preparations.

When the day came, she entered the museum and smiled seeing how the plans to expand it were already underway, with architects lounging around the main hall and staffers closing out one of the wings to the public - presumably the one being expanded.  
One of the assistants greeted her and led her to the battle arena, with Sakura already there. The blonde gym leader was rocking a light blue gym uniform and some really adorable white shoes. When she saw Alma, she greeted her with a smile. "Hello, challenger. Welcome to the Nacrene City gym. I'm Sakura, though you already know that, and I'll explain the rules of the match and the terrain."

She pressed a button, and the ceiling above the battle field buzzed as it changed to something much different: there were now some realistic looking icicles hanging from all over the ceiling.  
"This is your first terrain hazard. During our battle, the icicles on the ceiling will fall randomly, and deal a set amount of damage to our Pokémon should they hit. Of course, that means that not only you'll have to play around my team, but you should be mindful of what's happening above as well."

She paused, giving Alma time to process the new information. "It will be a 2v2, and all the rules of the previous gym are still in place. Should I give you a refresher?" "No, I'm good, thanks." Sakura nodded. "Very well, then. Let the gym challenge begin!"

Sakura sent out a Cubchoo, and Alma decided to lead off with Marble. The rock type Pokémon had caught up to the rest of the team after the training, and Alma was pretty confident she could at least deal a lot of damage to the polar bear, if not outright KO it.  
"Marble, go with Smack Down!" "Ted, use Hail!" The opposing Pokémon was faster, and quickly set up a hailstorm. In addition to that, Smack Down failed due to the ability of Cubchoo, Snow Cloak, which raised evasion in the hail.

"Oh, well, that didn't go as planned." Alma considered switching, but decided to stay in - her best bet was hitting a supereffective move, and since no other Pokémon of hers had tools to deal with the hail, she thought it was better off that way.  
"Ted, Ice Beam!" The Cubchoo charged up the move, and Alma considered quickly how to interrupt that channel. If Smack Down were to fail, she would've found herself in a pretty rough spot given her mon's poor special defense.

"I've got it! Marble, aim Smack Down to the ceiling!" "Wait, what?" The Roggenrola caught on fairly quickly, and hit the rock type move on one of the icicles above, which fell and cut short the Cubchoo's attack.  
Another icicle fell due to the shock, and almost hit Marble, who rolled out of the way.

"That was pretty smart, but it won't be enough. Use Ice Beam on the terrain!" Cubchoo hit the move, and Marble was immobilized by the ice going on to his feet. "Quick, Smack Down!" The Roggenrola was hit by a powerful Ice Beam, but managed to land a hit.  
'Great, if I could just get another hit off... Marble can survive one of I just...' "Bulldoze on the terrain!" Alma ordered. The shockwave shattered the ice, freeing Roggenrola's feet and slowing down Cubchoo.

The hail hit, and Marble didn't look too healthy, but he could probably survive the next ice beam if he had managed to avoid even just a part of it...  
"Finish him! Brine!" Sakura ordered. "Wait, that thing gets Brine?" No way that Marble was going to survive a super effective, powered-up Brine - as a matter of fact, he was knocked out immediately after.  
"Dam... come back, Marble. Good job." Alma looked at Sakura. 'She didn't use Brine immediately to bait me into staying in with my rock type. She's more threatening than she seems!' She sent out Arin, who immediately recoiled seeing the shards of ice left behind by Bulldoze and Ice Beam.

"I'm counting on you, Arin." The Panpour nodded and prepared to face his enemy, just as one icicle came crashing down on the middle of the field. "Oh, yeah, there are icicles falling from the ceiling. I should've mentioned that. Be careful." Alma added. Sakura smiled. "Your move."  
"Finish him with Low Sweep!" She had taught Arin the move specifically to deal with Sakura's ice types. "Avoid it and use Return!" Fortunately, the speed drop of Bulldoze had slowed Cubchoo enough to prevent him from avoiding in time - Ted was sent packing with a powerful kick.

"Well, you did your best, Ted. Come back!" Sakura withdrew Cubchoo and sent out her second Pokémon, Cryogonal. The hail was still going strong, and it damaged Arin, but Alma was pretty sure her opponent didn't have an ability that made it stronger in the hail.  
"Arin, use Low Sweep!" Lowering its speed and damaging it super effectively was the way to go - of course, Sakura knew that too. "Chris, use Hidden Power!" Arin managed to land a hit but was hit by the opponent's Hidden Power. The move dealt a lot of damage, and Arin staggered for a good second.

"Wait, what type is that? Grass?" Alma asked. Sakura nodded with a smile. "Deals with Rock and Water types pretty well, don't you think?" "Don't go all smug on me. This battle isn't over." Yes, it wasn't over, but Alma needed to plan her moves. An icicle fell dangerously close to the Cryogonal and the trainer thought about it for a bit. If only she could get her opponent to take damage from the icicles as well... it could speed up the KO and make it flinch for a little bit.

She saw one of them already starting to fall near the center of the stage. If only she could push Cryogonal towards it... "Arin, tackle it to the ground towards center stage!" "I won't let you. Ice Beam!" At such a short range, the ice type attack froze Arin's upper body... until the Panpour melted the ice with a Scald, smiling at Cryogonal's surprise.

"Now!" Arin pushed it in the range of the icicle, and it made him flinch slightly, with the water type managing to hit another Low Sweep. As another icicle flew towards Arin, Alma ordered to melt it with Scald.  
"It's not over yet! Go, Chris! Hidden Power!" As the Panpour was preoccupied with the icicle falling towards him, he didn't have time to avoid the attack and was hit hard, and hail hit again, weakening him further.

Coming from Cryogonal's stellar special attack, Arin was on the verge of collapsing. "That's the last attack for the both of us, I'd say." Sakura commented. "Let's make it count, then." Alma replied. "Hidden Power!" The gym leader ordered. "Scald!" The attacks met halfway, but when the fog dissipated, Arin was nowhere to be seen.  
Using the vapor created by Scald's hot water as cover, the Panpour jumped on Chris and hit it with a powerful Low Sweep.

"Cryogonal is unable to battle! The victory goes to challenger, Alma from Nuvema Town!" "Yay! Great job, Arin!" Panpour gave her a high five. Sakura chuckled and walked up to her. "Well, you did great, handling both the hail and the terrain pretty spectacularly. I'm a bit bummed I lost, but with such great battles who can really complain?"

She handed Alma the Icicle badge and the TM for Ice Beam. The trainer smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Sakura. You were truly a joy to get to know and battle." Sakura bowed to her, blushing slightly. "I don't deserve such praise, but thanks. I hope you'll have an amazing journey."

They parted ways soon after, and Alma called her mom to tell her about her victory. "Hi, mom." "Hi, dear! How are you?" "I'm great, actually. I just got the second badge." "You're steamrolling the region! I hope you're still finding time to take it slow." "I am! Everyone's been great to me. I'm having a lot of fun." "I'm happy about that."

Her mom's tone turned serious. "Actually, I wanted to call you myself." "What's with that tone? Did something happen?" "Alma, are you familiar with the group of terrorist that calls themselves ULG?" "ULG?" "Unova Liberation Group. They're a band of horrible, horrible people spreading chaos and mischief across the region."

Alma recalled professor Leon's words. "Yeah, I might have heard about them." "Great. Sweetie, please, please come home. I've heard on the TV that it is very possible that their next objective is Castelia City." "But that's my next destination!" "Yes, and I don't want you to get hurt. Even Nacrene City might be in danger. But Nuvema is calm, and you'll be safe here."

Alma got a bit irritated. "Are you telling me you want me to give up on my journey?" "I don't want your journey to interfere with your safety, that's all." "Mom, I've been waiting to go out on my own for six years, and I've been dreaming to be a trainer for even more time! You can't ask me to go back just because a group of misfits is spreading chaos or whatever. Besides, the gym leaders and professor are handling this."

There was a long pause. Then her mom sighed. "I know, I know. But I care about you. I don't- I don't want to lose you too." Alma stiffened, torn between rage and sorrow. "Don't use the dad card. Don't you _dare_ use it." "Sweetie-" "No. This conversation is over."

Alma hung up, negative feelings boiling in her chest as her eyes got lucid. "I don't get how she can be so insensitive. She knows I-" Her words came out in broken shudders as she headed for the Pokémon Center, wiping away her tears with her sleeves.


	5. Entomophobia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Miria is faced with the challenging task of crossing Pinwheel Forest while being afraid of bugs. After calling for an unexpected helper, her and Alma both arrive in Castelia, their first big city._

After getting the Icicle Badge, Miria was in a bit of a pickle.  
Ever since she could remember, she had been absolutely terrified of bugs, and by extention all Bug-type Pokémon ranged from unsettling her to making her burst out in tears. Her mother seemed to share that fear as well, so she hadn't been of much help, and her father was always touring around the region, so he was rarely at home.

She could've never forgotten the day she left her window open, and a big Venipede had crawled up in her room, scaring her to death when she saw it lying on her bed as soon as she got back from the bathroom.  
Since then, she had always slept with her windows closed, and avoided bugs like the plague.

The issue was, she needed to go to Castelia City, and the only way to get there was through Pinwheel Forest, notoriously crawling with bugs and... other monstrosities, probably. Miria sighed. She had made it her mission not to rely on her family for her journey, but...

Hesitantly, she took out her Xtransceiver and hovered her mother's contact. Then, she spotted some other saved contacts: Alma's and Angela's. 'Oh, right, I did get their numbers, didn't I...' It was a game of pick your poison at that point - call her mom, and risk having her not pick up or worse, upsetting her (since she was probably in the middle of a show) or call the people she hadn't exactly treated well throughout her journey.

She decided for the lesser evil, and called Alma, but she didn't pick up. Miria scoffed, but she was probably busy or didn't hear the call. She tried with Angela, and after a short while there was a response. "Hello?" Angela sounded surprised to say the least. "Hi. I'm Miria. Listen, are you perchance hanging around Nacrene City?"  
"Well, I'm not really nearby, but I can get there fast. Why?" "Can... Can I talk to you? I need help for something."

"... Sure. Where would you like to meet up?" Angela's tone seemed neutral, but the hesitation after her reply indicated that she didn't feel that greatly about her. Miria should've expected that, but it was better than nothing. "Is the Warehouse Café a good place for you?" "Sure. I'll be there in half an hour."  
She hung up, and Miria was left wondering whether she had done the right thing. 'Well... I guess it went better than I expected. Still a bit awkward.'

She headed towards the Pokémon Center, healing her mons before heading to the Warehouse Café.  
Angela arrived right in time, and she spotted her immediately. "Hello, Miria." "Hi. Thank you for coming. I didn't expect you to-" She stopped before she could finish the sentence, but the other girl understood the implication. "You didn't think I'd want to listen to you after how we started off." "Yeah."

There was a moment of awkward silence between them, before Angela decided to talk again. "You said you needed my help?" "Well, this might seem really silly, but... uh... I need someone to accompany me through Pinwheel Forest." Angela raised an eyebrow. "Pinwheel Forest is not that long or winded, unless you want to take the mazy path. Do you want to go out of your way to get some extra training, or...?" "I'mterrifiedofbugs." Miria blurted out.

For a second, she was scared the other girl would laugh in her face; instead, Angela chuckled. "I used to fear bugs too, before I caught my Scolipede." "What! Really?" "Yeah! Pinwheel Forest was really rough for me. I had to go through the mazy path as well, because they were paving the straight path. It was a nightmare!" "It does sound like a nightmare!"

Angela shrugged. "I mean, I guess it did kind of work as shock therapy. I panic-caught a Venipede who basically threw himself at me, and turns out he was just really affectionate and wanted company. At the end of it all, we were both lonely souls looking for company."  
Miria lowered her gaze. "Lonely souls looking for company, eh?" Angela looked at her. "May I ask you something?" "Go ahead." "... Are you lonely, too? Is that why you called me, basically a stranger that you snobbed at the beginning?"

Miria's fists clenched. "I... I don't want to talk about it. But I will say this. I am sorry for how I treated you. I shouldn't have said the things I said. Going on this journey, I am coming to realize the world is much bigger than I expected, and... much emptier."  
Angela looked at her. "I see. I'm sorry for probing you about this. I was just curious. Anyway, apology accepted. It was a harmless enough first interaction, and perhaps I was too cold as well. Let's start over, shall we?"

Miria nodded. "I can get behind that. Soooo... will you accompany me through Pinwheel Forest?" "Sure, why not. It will be fun, rivisiting a place I haven't seen in so long. Shall we head out?" Angela said, rising up. "Wait! At least let me offer you a hot chocolate or something!" Miria protested, holding the other girl's arm. "Oh, hot chocolates are always well appreciated!"  
They chatted and laughed over their drinks, and Miria could finally feel some warmth in their interactions.

With a tinge of pain, Miria realized it was the first time she had felt so... happy to be alive. Without any kind of social pressure, without having your family name and "destiny" hovering above your shoulder...  
"Hey, you alright? You spaced out for a good thirty seconds there." Angela's voice brought her back to reality, and she forced an embarassed smile. "Yeah! I was just... thinking." "Huh, coulda fooled me."  
After paying for their drinks, Miria got up. "Let's go, we have a forest to cross!"

Pinwheel Forest wasn't really as dark and creepy as Miria had imagined; the sunlight filtering through the trees and lively chirping of Pidoves made it more similar to a normal route. Even still, she was pretty positive she could hear some sort of skittering sound everywhere she looked.  
Angela had been initially surprised when Miria had grabbed onto her arm for dear life, but understanding her anxiety she had decided not to comment on that and move on, focusing on distracting her from her fear by talking about anything else.

"... And I told her it was impossible, that there was no way she was going to find that sort of rare Pokémon by fishing. Turns out, she fished up a really beautiful Milotic, and I was green with envy for the next four days!" Miria chuckled at Angela's story. "Milotic is such a beautiful Pokémon! I wish I could have one in my team." "Yes, and pretty powerful too! But it's a pain to encounter and catch."

The more they went through the forest, the more Miria felt at ease - the sounds, unfamiliar and scary at first, started becoming background noise in her ears. That was until she saw it. A rustling in the grass... a yellow head... the skittering noise again... "EEP!" From the patch of grass, a really small Sewaddle appeared, seemingly more afraid of Miria than she was of him.

"A BUG!" "Yeah, a bug. I'm actually surprised that we haven't encountered one of these little fellas before." Angela scratched her head, then beamed at Miria. "Say, why don't you try to catch it?" "Are you CRAZY? There's no way I'm going to catch such a... a..." Angela smiled and tossed an apple at it. Sewaddle tilted his head and then slowly started munching on the apple, a peaceful expression on his face.

"An... adorable thing?" Miria tried to reconcile the image of the scary, poisonous Venipede with the cute bug she had in front of her. "Those guys are really cute. Plus, they make their own clothes out of leaves. Sounds familiar?" Angela chuckled, looking at her. "It's... a fashion designer?" "You could say that, I guess." "I... I guess I can try catching it. Even if it still looks.... like a bug..."

Miria's hand trembled as she extended her Pokéball. Sewaddle stopped eating the apple and stared curiously at her. "EEP!" Miria dropped the ball, and it rolled down to the Bug-type's feet. He curiously poked at it... and got caught inside.  
One, two, three... and the capture was complete.  
"That was... incredibly stressful. But also oddly satisfying? I can't decide how I feel about it." Miria commented, scratching her head in confusion. "But you tried to overcome your fear and even ended up catching a bug! I'm proud of you." Angela gave her a pat on the back. The other girl blushed, hiding her face behind her bag as she took the Pokéball inside.

"Thanks. I appreciate your help." she admitted. "Jeez, I'm going to be so indebted to you when we're done here..." "What? Don't say such silly things. I didn't ask for anything in return, did I? Let's just get through this forest, and we'll be even." "I don't think that's how it works." Miria replied, eyeing her suspiciously. Angela rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on..."

The walk through the straight path was not too long - after twenty more minutes, they were already overlooking Skyarrow Bridge, the great structure connecting Nacrene and Castelia City.  
Miria smiled. "I can't believe we're actually here. I haven't been here in such a long time!" "You came here already? It's pretty far from home." Angela noted. "Well, when I was little I came to visit with my mother for TV interviews and such."

Angela looked at her pensively. "Right, your mother... Leon said she worked in Nimbasa, didn't he?" "Yeah. My mother's Cecilia Reiner." "Cecilia Reiner? THE Cecilia Reiner?" The other trainer almost had to do a double take. "You mean the star of Pokémon Musicals? The A tier celebrity? The diva of Nimbasa City?" "Yep. That's her, alright."

Angela shook her head. "Pardon my curiousity, but you don't seem all too happy about it." "Well, it's a long story. See, she only allowed me to go on this journey to have Pokémon of my own. My adventure is supposed to end in Nimbasa City, where I'll join my mother in the Musical Festival and start training extensively to become the next Musical star."

Angela's eyes widened. "You're telling me you'll stop becoming a trainer then, and devote yourself to musicals?" "See, no, that's the problem. I like being a trainer. And... well, I hated the fact that I wasn't that great at it at the start, but I also liked the challenge, and I like my Pokémon. I don't want it all to end. But... well. Let's just say my mother doesn't even know I'm collecting gym badges. I'm supposed to treat this journey like a road trip, but it's my first big adventure, and I'd really like to become a stronger trainer and get to see more of the world."

Miria's hands started to tremble, feeling the emotional weight she had carried up until that point slowly lifting from her heart. "And I don't want it all to stop. But I still don't know what I'll do or what I'll say when I face my mother." Angela put a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to shoulder all of this alone. I'm sure when the moment comes, you'll make the right decision, but if you ever need me, I'm just a call away, ok?"

Miria started sniffling, and wiped her tears with a very expensive looking handkerchief. "Thank you. I-" She slowly recomposed herself. "I don't know what to do yet, but I'll figure it out." "I'm sure you will."  
Angela's Xtransceiver rang, and she saw the caller's name. "Shoot. It's the professor. I think I need to go soon." "Thank you again for your help." "No problem. Yes, professor? Yes, I- of course. Of course. I'll be there in an instant. See you soon."

Angela closed the call, and waved at Miria before hopping on an Unfezant and flying away. Miria waved back, and smiled faintly. Relying on someone, showing a bit of weakness for once... it felt nice.  
Maybe she could rely on Alma too, sometimes.  
With that thought, and a far happier mindset, she set off towards Skyarrow Bridge.

* * *

When Alma got out of Pinwheel Forest, she exhaled deeply in relief. She had gone through the mazy path to train and had gained a few levels - Marble had evolved into Boldore, and even though she didn't plan to use him in the upcoming gym battle given his weakness to fighting, she was still pretty happy another member of the team had grown stronger.

She checked her Xtransceiver, hesitating for just a moment before picking it up. The last time she had used it, in her call with her mother... well... it hadn't gone that well. She saw a missed call and Miria's number popped up on the screen. Alma's eyes widened in surprise as she decided to call her back.  
"Hi, Miria. Sorry, I was in Pinwheel Forest and I didn't have much signal there. Did you need anything?" "Don't worry, it's all sorted. You coming to Castelia soon, then?" "I'm heading towards the bridge." Alma stated, walking towards the immense structure.

"I'm already here. I'm going to beat you to the next gym if you don't keep up." Miria was mocking her already? Alma chuckled. "We'll see who gets the gym first, then. See you!" "Alright. See you." She hung up. 'She seemed to be doing pretty well. I've never heard her in such a good mood.'  
When she set foot in Castelia City after crossing Skyarrow Bridge, she was left utterly speechless by the sheer amount of building and people coming and going. The streets were large and chaotic, the buildings were mostly if not all skyscrapers, and the piers were full of ships coming from all sides.

It was a metropolis, in all of its shining glory. Alma had never been in such a chaotic environment, and at first she stood there for a while, taking it all in and processing all that lively hustle and bustle.  
Then, she took a deep breath and smiled. 'This is great! Was my mom really trying to keep me from such a great sight? Castelia, here I come!'

As she ran towards the Pokémon Center, eager to heal her Pokémon to explore the city in its entirety, she failed to notice the shady people coming from Narrow Street. "This weekend, when the city is at its most crowded, we strike." said one of them. "The Unova Liberation Group will stand for this nonsense no longer."


	6. The ULG blitz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _As Alma explores Castelia City, something unexpected happens and she gets caught in a bad situation. After narrowly escaping with her life thanks to a gym leader, she ends up stuck in Castelia until further notice._

Castelia City had a lot to offer, so Alma decided to take the full week to explore it in its entirety. She went to visit art museums and saw street dancers throwing it down in the city square while people clapped and cheered.  
Then she went to visit the piers that offered to ferry tourists through the sea (even though she had to end up settling on an economic trip since she couldn't afford paying the price of the more expensive ones), earned some money by working as a volunteer and taking surveys for the Passerby Analytics HQ, and so much more.

She even managed to snatch a prestigious Casteliacone, the local delicacy, for herself, after standing in line for at least two hours. She sighed in contentment as she sat on a pier eating some street food she had just bought.  
She checked Castelia's map, gifted to her by the Passerby Analytics HQ, to check her last pit stops.

'Oh! How could I forget the Battle Company! It's the ideal place to train my mons a little bit, as well as get some interesting items if I manage to make it to the final battle.' Alma smiled and rose up, heading to the huge building with a big sign that said "Battle Company! Strong trainers, great rewards!"

Once inside, she was delighted to see just how many hopefuls had gathered there. There were people from all over Unova, chatting and sharing their battling experience.  
She signed up for the challenge at the reception, and was handed a piece of paper. "When you battle the bosses of each floor, you'll receive a stamp. When you have at least 5 stamps, you can go battle the final boss at the 55th floor. You can check the floors where people will battle you on this paper. The other floors are either empty or there are people working there, so please do not make too much noise outside of the floors adapted for battles." the receptionist explained.

Alma nodded. "I understand. Thank you very much!" She took the elevator and headed to one of the battle floors.  
She had no idea how much time had passed since the beginning of her challenge - she could barely breathe between a fight and another, in a test of both endurance and battling skills.

She took the elevator and was about to head to her last floor before facing the boss, when she heard it shake tremendously. Her heart jumped in her chest. 'An earthquake?' she wondered. No... it was different. Another sound echoed in the elevator, and Alma's blood seemed to freeze in her veins when she realized it was an explosion.

Something terrible had happened. And to her horror, the elevator shut down, trapping her inside. "Oh god. Oh god. Oh god." There was no third explosion, but she could faintly hear other people's cries and eerie sounds which she couldn't make out. "I need to get out of here. Fast." She tapped the help button repeatedly, but with the electricity having been cut, it was to no avail. "Gods... Ok, Alma. Don't panic. Don't panic. You still have your Pokémon with you."

She took out Marble, and the elevator screeched dangerously at the sudden increase of weight. "Oh god." Thankfully, the elevator held on, as Alma saw the sign "Maximum permitted weight: 300 kg". "Thank the heavens. Marble, I'm in a pinch. I need you to open the elevator door without using a move. Can you do that?"  
The Boldore nodded and used its rocky limbs to separate the elevator doors, crunching them horribly in the process. "I'm so sorry. I'll pay you back for this." she said, to no one. "Alright, Marble, come back."

She withdrew Marble and took a deep sigh of relief when she realized the elevator was really close to one of the non-battle floors. She managed to land on the floor and she read "floor 29". It was pretty close to floor 35, where she was supposed to go next, but that was not important at the moment.

She looked around and saw no one, and even worse, she saw the devastation. The explosion probably happened really close to that floor - the ceiling was in shambles, and the entire floor seemed on the verge of collapsing.  
"Hello? Hello? Is anyone here?" She called out, in the hopes that someone, maybe even in another floor, could hear her. No one answered, but she heard a faint noise and a male voice.

"What was that, you little runt?" She inched closer and saw a scary looking man, with a ULG uniform, beating a Scraggy to a pulp. "You wanna fight, eh? You wanna fight? I'll give you fight. Gods, your kind is so annoying." Alma's rage bubbled inside her when she saw the Scraggy's pained expression, and she stepped in.  
"Hey! Leave the poor guy alone! He did nothing wrong!" The terrorist turned, and Alma realized that maybe, just maybe, she had made a mistake. He was in his fourties, at least two times bigger than her, and he had a knife in his hand.

"You want to interfere? You want a piece of this as well?" He extracted his knife and Alma backed away as he got closer. "You like playing the hero? Let's see you play dead." the man barked. Suddenly, one of her Pokéballs opened without her even knowing it and Arin got out of the Pokéball, angrily looking at the man and using Scald on the hand holding the knife.

"You little-!" The man lunged at Arin and punched him, sending him flying. "You'll pay for this! Your little trainer is about to die, and you're next!" Before he could do anything, though, another man in ULG uniform walked in. "Hey, hey, am I interrupting something?" he asked.  
"Thank god you arrived in time." The terrorist grunted. "Help me get a hold of that little Panpour runt while I deal with his trainer." "Sure." The other man extended his hand, and a jet of darkness propelled out of it, knocking the terrorist away. "Hey, what the-"

Alma's eyes widened as the man who had just entered the room turned into a dark, black and red fox looking Pokémon, just as the gym leader of Icirrus City, Ryo, made his appearance. "You pathetic scum... Ran, restrain him." The Zoroark lunged on the man and immobilized him, shackling his hands as Ryo picked up Arin and gave him to Alma.

"Here." "Thanks, you saved my life." "Yeah. We need to talk." The Zoroark escorted the man out, pushing him against a Bisharp that carried him away. Ryo turned to face her. "Now, can you tell me why the hell did you engage a man with a knife instead of calling for help?" "I thought-" "You thought he'd battle you with Pokémon. Sure."  
Ryo shook his head, irritated. "He's a terrorist. He's not going to play fair. I get you wanted to save that Pokémon, but this is real life. You could've been killed."

He exhaled sharply. "Your Pokémon was ready to sacrifice himself for you. You can't make these reckless decisions on the fly. They will only end up in death." "... I'm sorry." Alma looked down, ashamed. "This is... what, the second time you've got involved in something you shouldn't have been involved in? Jeez, you must have a knack for this." Ryo commented.

Alma blushed, embarassed. "Yeah, um. I'm sorry for eavesdropping back in Nacrene City." "That was pretty harmless, but this?" He looked at her sternly. She wanted to shrink to the size of an ant. "This kind of behavior is risky at best and deadly at worst. You're not going to help anyone if you play the hero without having the resources to back it up. Sometimes, the best option when you can't de-escalate the situation is run and ask for help. Remember that."

Alma nodded slowly. "I understand." "Good. Now come with me. Let's get out of this place." "Wait, what happened here?" "Oh, you didn't know?" "I was stuck in an elevator before that whole, um, situation." "Well, as you can imagine, some terrorists attacked. They planted two bombs and were about to detonate a third one - fortunately, me and the president managed to stop them in time.  
Our Pokémon teams are handling the evacuation, and I'm checking whether there are terrorists left here or not. At least six men were involved. Maybe more, considering they passed the reception check."

Alma swallowed. Suddenly, her mom's warning didn't seem as stupid. "That sounds rough." "Oh, it's rough alright. It could've been much worse, since there were no deaths thanks to the swift measures taken to prevent further damage, but still. A lot of people got hurt. A lot of Pokémon, too."

His gaze got distant, and Alma lowered her eyes. She could've died there. "I wouldn't have made it out alive without you. I'm in your debt." "I just did my duty as a gym leader and as a person. Our job is also to keep the people safe and happy." He shook his head. "Still, promise me you won't do any more reckless stunts like this."

"I promise. And I'll try to be more careful with my Pokémon as well." Alma assured him. "Let's hope you make good on that promise, miss...?" "Alma. My name's Alma." "Alma, then. We're at the exit."  
From the outside, the damage was even more evident. Smoke came out of more than one floor on the building, the people who were inside were all huddled up, and the terrorists were being escorted by the police.

The black and red fox came back to Ryo and he withdrew him. "Never seen a Zoroark before?" he asked Alma, as she looked at him, puzzled. "Nope." "He can turn into any human or Pokémon while retaining his moves." "That's amazing." "Yeah."  
The young trainer looked at the gym leader. "What will happen now? To Castelia, to the other cities, to everything else." "This was... the first serious threat to people's lives. The ULG or however the hell they call themselves are unlikely to back down now. Which means things will change. How, I still don't know. They will probably call an emergency meeting between gym leaders and heads of Unova to decide the next course of action."

Before she could ask him anything else, she saw a great number of people coming in - journalists, policemen, all wanting to speak with Ryo and the witnesses of the attack. Alma was taken away for questioning as well; she didn't even get to say goodbye and thank him again before being carried away.

* * *

_"It saddens me and outrages me deeply that the ULG would have the guts to attack the bustling heart of Unova, Castelia City." Ester said on TV during the press conference following the attack. "Of course, I offer my support to the survivors of the attack, and renew my pledge to defend Unova from such a threat. All of the finances and resources that I can offer will go towards relief funds for the facilities and people hit and countering this foul threat."_

__

__

_"We shall not allow those terrorists to scare us into submission. We shall not allow them to disrupt our peace any longer. I will make it my priority to ensure that the upcoming Musical Festival is held without any outside interference, and security in all cities will be much tighter from now on."_

Alma shut down the TV, an uneasy feeling about the situation at hand. She kept fiddling with the Pokéball that she had used to capture the lone Scraggy she had helped save back at the Battle Company to find some comfort, to no avail.  
After the event, the dark-fighting type had grown attached to her and had refused to be set free, so Alma had decided to capture him and call him Samson, like the great fighter he was.

"I hope everything will be alright..." she sighed, looking outside the window of the hotel she was staying at. There were helicopters overhead, with the big L of Laurent plastered over them. The city had basically entered a state of lockdown, and she couldn't leave until the investigation of the terrorists was over.

Suddenly, her Xtransceiver rang. She took a deep breath upon seeing the name of the contact, and finally gathered the courage to pick up. "Hello, mom?" She heard her mom's muffled voice. "Oh, sweetie. I'm so glad you're safe. I saw the TV today and... I couldn't believe my eyes. My baby girl. You're safe."  
Alma lowered her eyes. "Yes, mom. I'm alive. And I'm sorry for telling you all that terrible stuff and..." "Oh, baby. I'm just glad you're ok. I was so scared when they told me about what happened in Castelia. I thought the worst had happened."

"Thankfully, the gym leader of Icirrus City saved my life there." "God bless him. Please tell me everything."  
They talked for a long while, finally destroying the rift that had built between them after the beginning of Alma's journey.

Her mother took a deep breath before asking her next question. "Now, what will you do?" "For now, I'm stuck in Castelia due to the police investigation. As soon as I'm done here, I will move on to Nimbasa." "So you're still going to go on your journey." "Yes. I'm sorry, mom, but I want to trust that everything will be ok. I'll wait here as long as I can and I'll set out only if I know it's safe enough, but I can't give up on my dream."  
Her mother sighed. "I understand, even though I don't agree. Please, be safe." "I will."

As soon as she hung up and put it away, her Xtransceiver rang again. "What the-" Alma picked it up and saw Miria's name. "Hello, Miria?" "Alma! Thank god you're okay. I just saw the TV... I had no idea you were there when it happened!" "Yeah... I guess I picked the wrong day to visit the Battle Company, huh?" Alma laughed nervously.  
Miria's tone got serious. "Alma. Are you really alright?" There was a long silence. "I will be. For now, I'm pretty shaken. And... scared, honestly. I didn't think my first journey would've ended up like this."

"Do you want to quit, though?" "Hell no. I've enjoyed it throughout. If I let my fear control me here... I won't be able to go all the way anyway." "I'm glad to hear that. Just... be safe and hold tight. We're in this together. We're stuck here together, right? Might as well keep each other company."  
Alma chuckled. "That's true. I'll try to be optimistic for the future." She paused for a second. "Thanks, Miria. I really appreciate your call. I was feeling a little down, but talking to you made me feel better." "Really? I'm glad. If you ever need me these days, I'm at Soleil Hotel."

Alma raised an eyebrow. "That's... a really expensive location for VIPs, isn't it?" "I guess you could say that. You can come hang out if you want to. I have a big pool and a bar with free drinks." "Humble brag much? Anyway, you could've said so immediately! I am definitely gonna lounge in your hotel." "Feel free to do so. I'm lonely as hell here."

The girls shared a laugh together. After a while, Miria had to go. "I'm going to hang up, ok? See you whenever you want. You can come visit, and we can talk about... you know, stuff. Whatever." "I'll take you up on that one of those days. Have a nice evening, Miria." "You too."

About a month had passed since the incident at the Battle Company. After being stuck in Castelia for a pretty long time, and with all important facilities disabled due to the attack, the investigation was finally closed. Twenty people were found guilty, either of conspiracy or being straight out directly involved with the case.  
Even with life in Castelia slowly returning to normal, with some added checks at the entrance of most buildings, Alma still had some questions in mind. Something didn't add up in all of that, and that case was not the end.

Still, it was an important victory for the justice system and everyone celebrated the return to normality. Alma and Miria met up to get some drinks at a popular café nearby. "It's finally over. I thought this lockdown would never end!" Miria sighed. "Well, they did say it was to prevent anyone involved from running away before the case was done..."

"It still seemed a little extreme. I guess it did work, but still... Ah! Enough of this. Let's talk about important things. The gym challenge reopened. Should we take it on now or wait for things to settle down further?" "Let's do it now. If something else were to happen here... yeah, no, I'm not sticking around here for another month. My wallet will hate me otherwise." Alma replied, shaking her head.

Miria chuckled. "Me neither." "Plus, Nimbasa City's Musical Festival is coming up in a week and Angie already got us some VIP tickets! We're going to go there." The other girl's expression darkened. "Yeah... right."  
Alma looked at her friend. "You're still not ready to face your mother, are you?" During their chats, Miria had told Alma the same things she had told Angela in Pinwheel Forest. "To be fair, I don't think I'll ever be. It's just... well, it's complicated. It'd be easier to explain if you could see it yourself."

"Are you still going to come to the Musical Festival?" "I will come, but I'm not sure I'll show up on the first day. The inauguration day is painfully slow to me, having seen it so many times already. It's always pretty much the same. Things start to get spicy on day two onwards." Alma tilted her head. "Really?" "Yeah. Day two has some pretty cool variety shows before the grand closing act of day three."

Alma smiled. "You still talk about it fondly." Miria blushed. "Well, it's not like I hate musicals. I really enjoy all types of performance arts. But... you know. When something's shoved down your throat so much, you kind of start losing interest in it. Training Pokémon was such a new experience for me and it's been a rollercoaster. I don't think I'll lose interest in it anytime soon."

"I can understand that. Well, whenever you arrive in Nimbasa, let's meet up with Angie and have a girl's date, yes?" "Sure thing. Shall we go sign up for the gym challenge?" Miria asked. "If we sign up too late, Emerald's going to have a queue of impatient trainers waiting for her." "True. Let's do that." Alma got up and they headed to the gym.

Once they were there, they managed to obtain the first available slots to battle Emerald. "You go first. I'll wait for you to be done and then I'll go challenge her." Miria said to Alma. "Wait, are you sure?" "Yeah, it's not a big deal. We've got adjacent slots anyway." "Alright, then. I'm going in!" Alma announced. "Good luck." "Thank you. I'll do my best."

The battle arena was definitely not what Alma expected. "Wait... what is this?" "Welcome!" The fighting gym leader, Emerald was standing in the middle of a wrestling ring, smiling brightly at Alma. "This is our battle arena, what else?" "Uh, a wrestling ring?" "Sure! Makes it more interesting, does it not?"

Alma scratched her head. "Huh. And how does this gym challenge work?" "It's a 3v3, and this will be our terrain. As you can see, the ring is relatively small, so there's going to be a lot of kicking and punching and... not a lot of long range attacks."

Emerald came down the stairs out of the ring, as the battle referee arrived. "There are two ways to KO the opponent. Either by making them faint, or by throwing them off the ring. Either way, a KOed or out of the ring mon is considered out of commission."  
"I see. Alright, I can get behind this." "Wonderful! Are you ready to fight then?" "Of course."

Alma took a deep breath. This was either going to be the toughest gym battle yet, or the easiest. It really depended on how she played around the ring. The additional win condition was definitely something to keep in mind - if an enemy was too tough to KO, she could always throw him off the ring.

"Alright. I'm going to need you to come through for me here, since more than half my team is weak to fighting." Alma commented, holding Arin's sphere. She had taught the water type Acrobatics, which was going to come off handy, but she doubted it would've been enough to win, especially with Emerald holding such a type advantage over her.

Alma sent out Arin and Emerald sent out a tough looking Throh. Both landed on the ring, and the Panpour looked around for a few seconds, confused. "You either KO or throw off the ring, Arin. Do your best!" The water type nodded, but he was probably thinking the same thing Alma was thinking at the moment: no way they could've thrown a Throh off the ring. If anything, the Panpour had to be careful not to get thrown himself.

She decided to try testing the waters anyway. "Go, Arin! Start things out with Acrobatics!" "Roman, counter with Vital Throw!" Acrobatics did some hefty damage, given the fact that Arin wasn't holding an item - however, the Fighting type move couldn't miss despite having negative priority, and Arin was violently thrown across the ring.

"Hold on!" Alma shouted, and Arin managed to grab onto the ropes at the edge of the ring. The fighting type move hit hard, but the most dangerous thing was it could throw someone off the ring easily - and given the Panpour's negligible weight, and the risk of the move straight out making him fly across the ring was very real.

"Jeez, I've got to be more careful about that..." She decided to attack from a distance - it was safer that way. "Arin, Scald!" Fishing for a burn might've been a good idea as well. The only issue was, Emerald was ready for it. Throh was hit and was burned as well, but the gym leader didn't seem to be phazed in the slightest.  
"Roman, Revenge!"

Alma's eyes widened as Panpour was hit by an extremely powerful Revenge, and not only that - the burn seemed to be helping his attack instead of lowering its power. Emerald smiled. "Surprised? My Throh's ability is Guts, which raises his attack when he's affected by a status condition. When we're in a pinch, we become even stronger!"

Well, she had backed herself in a corner. If she kept letting Arin fight like that, she would've surely lost, even with a whittled down Throh.  
"Arin, come back!" She decided to switch to a... well, more or less more favorable matchup, considering the situation. "Go, Nicky!"

Switching in a normal type on a fighting type was not the best idea, but Alma didn't have many other choices. If Arin had went down so soon, she would've had no chances of winning the gym challenge.  
"Roman, Vital Throw!" "Oh no you don't! Nicky, use Detect!" Nicky protected herself from the attack, and Throh not only failed the hit, but took burn damage.

Emerald's eyes narrowed. "Stalling out burn turns, are ya?" "Well, it's my only way of winning this matchup." "Protecting won't help forever. Roman, Vital Throw again!" Alma knew a powerful, Guts boosted Vital Throw would've probably knocked Nicky out immediately. She just needed a little more chip damage... she decided to risk the double Detect.

"Detect again!" Fortunately, even though the move had a great chance to fail, it didn't, and Nicky got off the double Detect, stalling Throh out another turn. "Aw, shucks. Seems like you're having great luck today." Emerald chuckled. The burn damage had taken enough of a toll on the opponent by that point, so Alma knew that if she had attacked that turn it was enough to make him faint.

"He's weakened! Go for Retaliate!" Nicky managed to land a powerful hit, knocking out the Throh. "Well, what can you do, stuff happens. Well done, Roman." Emerald withdrew her Fighting type, and juggled the ball for a bit before throwing it. A fierce looking Sawk came out, and Alma had the sneaking suspicion she wasn't going to have a good time with this one as well.

"Chris, show our opponents our fighting spirit! Use Brick Break!" Contrary to Throh, Sawk was fast and nimble - he hit Nicky with the fighting type move, sending her flying across the ring, and even though she hadn't been knocked out, she didn't manage to latch onto the ropes and was ejected from the ring.

"Watchog is out due to exiting the ring!" The referee declared. Alma bit her lips nervously, withdrawing Nicky. Her next Pokémon, Samson the Scraggy, was weak to Fighting as well, and even though she had come to appreciate his scrappy and fiery fighting style, she worried he wouldn't be able to hold his own against such a powerful opponent.

"Go, Samson! Make me proud!" The Scraggy exited the ball, landing on the ring with a determined expression. Emerald raised an eyebrow, probably puzzled by the fact that Alma had brought two Pokémon weak to Fighting to a Fighting type gym.  
If only she knew three of her four Pokémon were weak to Fighting, she might've understood the full scope of her dilemma.

"Chris, Brick Break!" "Zen Headbutt!" Samson charged at Sawk with a speed that must've surprised him too, stomping through the ring like he owned the place, and sending him against the ropes. Sawk was so utterly baffled by that tiny little fighter engaging him like that he ended up flinching, and Samson had the time to land another Zen Headbutt before being swatted to the side by a very angry looking Sawk.

"Finish him with Brick Break!" Emerald ordered. Alma had to think fast. If she didn't, Samson would've fainted and there was no way a weakened Arin would've been able to handle her last Pokémon. Suddenly, she had an idea. "Samson, slide downwards and use the momentum to trip him!"

Samson did as told and used Low Kick on the incoming Sawk, making him lose his balance. A last Zen Headbutt finished the job. "Well played, that was pretty smart." Emerald smiled, withdrawing her Pokémon. "But it's not over until the last Pokémon's fainted. Go, Sasha!" Sasha was a serious-looking Gurdurr, and she made her appearance in the ring looking down on Samson.

Seemingly not caring about his opponent's size, though, Samson gave her a dirty look back, ready to fight. Alma was more than a bit worried about the outcome of the fight, but she wanted to trust her team.  
"Samson, Zen Headbutt!" "Sasha, counter him!" Samson dashed at an impressive speed, but Sasha just swung her girder around and whacked him in the head, sending him flying across the ring.

The Scraggy rubbed his head, a big bump forming where the object had hit him. The Gurdurr looked at him mockingly, flexing her muscles. 'She's got an attitude' Alma mused internally. Samson seemed to be really, really offended. He exhaled like a bull ready to charge, then went forward with Zen Headbutt.

When Sasha tried to hit him again, he jumped in the air and used the momentum to land a hit right on her head. Alma whistled, impressed - she hadn't even given an order, but her Pokémon seemed perfectly capable to hold his own.

"Sasha, use Brick Break!" "Samson, duck and use Zen Headbutt!" This time, though, the strategy didn't quite work - when the Scraggy ducked to the side, his opponent used her free arm to swing the girder and knock him away before landing a pretty devastating hit.

"Samson..." The dark type looked badly hurt, but refused to give in - he rose up, clenching his teeth through the pain and still ready to fight. "Your mon's got an impressive stamina, I must admit. Usually a supereffective hit from her is enough to knock out someone, but seems like I might have underestimated him." Emerald chuckled. Then her expression turned serious. "But I won't hold back. Sasha, Brick Break again!"

The Gurdurr charged, ready to land the last hit, and Samson looked done for, but with a last ditch effort, the Scraggy jumped on the girder destabilizing her slightly and hitting a powerful Zen Headbutt before being tossed away and out of the ring by his opponent.

He was out of commission, but he had done extremely well. "You've been a real hero out there, Sam. Rest, now." Alma withdrew her Pokémon and sent out Arin. He was hurt, but still ready to fight - plus, the time inside the Pokéball had given him a chance to recover slightly.  
"Arin, Acrobatics! And be mindful of that girder!" Panpour's speed allowed him to hit first and hard, managing to land a nasty hit; he also managed to avoid the Brick Break that came next.

"Great! Again!" Alma cheered. "Oh, not this time. Smack Down." As Arin shot into the air, ready to hit, Sasha threw a boulder at him, sending him pummeling towards the ground. "It's time for the last hit! Brick Break!" Emerald ordered. "Not so fast! Arin, Scald on the ground!" The gym leader's eyes widened as Sasha slipped on the water generated by Scald, falling and hurting herself as Arin landed a final Acrobatics, knocking her out.

"Gurdurr is unable to battle! The victory goes to challenger Alma!" "Let's go!" Alma beamed, withdrawing Arin. That gym challenge had been particularly tricky, but she had managed to barely clutch a victory. Emerald chuckled, walking up to her after recalling her Pokémon.  
"Well played. I have to say, that was the most exciting match I've had in a while." They shook hands and she gave her the TM for Brick Break. "Well then, good luck for your journey! I'll go heal my Pokémon and get ready for the next challenger." The gym leader announced. "Thanks, Emerald. Have a nice day!" "You too!"

As soon as she exited the gym, Miria came to see her. "Finally! You were there for a pretty long while! How did it go?" Alma showed her the badge and Miria nodded approvingly. "I expected no less from my rival. I'll get it too soon enough, don't worry." "Well, good luck out there, then. Should I wait for you?" "No, it's fine. I think I'll be in Castelia for a little while longer because I need to prepare for the desert as well. You go on ahead, we'll meet up in Nimbasa, ok?" "Sure. See ya!"

Alma headed out after waving to Miria and took a deep breath, ready to face the desert.


	7. Clouds obscuring stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Crossing the desert proves to be no easy task for the inexperienced Alma, but thankfully a helpful stranger comes in to guide her through. After getting to Nimbasa, a busy week awaits: with the Musical Festival coming up, Alma is joined by Miria and Angela to enjoy the show together._

Her first time in the desert wasn't exactly pleasant.  
Despite her buying desert-friendly clothing at a clothes shop and stocking up on cool water, the combination of not being used to the sand and wild Pokémon popping out of nowhere (to be fair, she had stepped on a fair share of very offended Sandiles without meaning to) made the trek through the sand a living hell.

Route 4 was in the middle of being renovated, and despite the presence of paved paths here and there, most of the route was right through the desert.  
To add insult to injury, after the gym she had decided to balance out her fighting-weak team by catching a Sigilyph before heading to Nimbasa - the only issue was she wasn't finding one. She only ran into Sandiles and Darumakas, with the occasional Scraggy popping out of the sand.

"Where are you, Sigilyph?" she muttered to herself, taking a break to drink some water. Only the sound of moving sand answered her call, and she sighed, exhausted. 'This is going to take a long while, I fear.' As she was about to resume walking, she heard footsteps in the sand.  
She narrowed her eyes, trying to see ahead even with the sandstorm reducing the already limited visibility, but couldn't see anyone.

"Is someone there?" she asked hesitantly. There was a pause, then she heard a reply. "Why, yes. Are you lost?" Alma thought about it for a second. The voice didn't sound dangerous, merely curious. "Well, I'm looking for Sigilyphs, but I can't find any. Are you familiar with this place? Can you help?"  
There was another pause, then a chuckle. "If you're looking for Sigilyph, you won't find any here."

She saw a person coming closer, and she was finally able to identify them. They wore lilac robes and a tagelmust over their head, leaving only space for the eyes - they were a striking dark caramel color, vivid and curious. She could also see they had very tan olivaster skin.

"Name's Duma. I'm a desert traveller." They introduced themselves. "Forgive me for intruding. You seemed to be having a hard time, so I thought I could help." Alma nodded. "I'm Alma. If you could tell me where I could find some Sigilyphs I'd be eternally grateful."  
"Sigilyphs are rare, but you can find some in the Desert Resort up west. However, I'd suggest treading carefully, because the desert is both harsher and trickier up there. If you'd like, I could accompany you on your quest." Duma offered.

"Sure, why not? I could use some help, especially if you know this area more than I do." "Great, then it's decided. Let's head northwest. It's just a little further. We'll find the Desert Resort, and while we're there we can check out Relic Castle too." "Relic Castle?" Alma inquired, barely managing to keep up with her travelling companion's quick pace.

"Yes, it's a collection of ruins of an ancient castle- oh, sorry, am I walking too fast?" The young trainer nodded sheepishly. "I'm sorry, my feet get caught in the sand and I can't keep up." "No, no, it's my fault. I'll slow down." "Thank you very much. Appreciate it."

While they were walking, Duma gave her some advice. "See, there are areas where the sand is lighter. The dark sand is deeper and more likely to hide Pokémon in them. I'm willing to bet you have stepped on quite a few Sandiles on your way here, have you?" Alma blushed. "Yeah... more than I'd like to admit."  
"You've got to walk carefully along the edges. Like this. Of course, there are some areas where you can't avoid the dark sand and should prepare for wild encounters, but if you want to quickly move along, you should definitely tread the lighter sand path."

The trainer nodded. "How long have you been travelling for, Duma?" They smiled. "It's been quite a long time now. I used to live in Driftveil City with my brother, but once I finished my trainer journey and decided to explore the desert more throughly, I was never quite the same."  
They grabbed some sand and let it flow through their hands. "The desert can be harsh and unforgiving, but it's also a great place to adapt. Grow. Evolve. Sand is fluid and constantly mutating, and so are we."

Duma paused for a second. "I understand it's not everyone's cup of tea. To fledgling trainers, it's a tough and draining place. But I've been around here for quite a while now and I can say it has its charm." Alma chuckled. "You make a pretty good case for it, to be fair." "Really? That's good to know. Oh, we've arrived."

Alma's eyes widened as she saw the fabled Desert Resort. Sand as far as the eye could see, with no trace of human intervention like in Route 4. The dark sand was pretty much everywhere, except for some patches of lighter sand. And in the background...  
"Wait, do I see a building there?" she squinted, and Duma nodded. "It's the Relic Castle I was telling you about. It's mostly ruins now, and the deeper you go the more it gets mazy and dangerous. I wouldn't suggest exploring it unless you really know what you're doing."

"Well, then that's off the table. Shall we go Sigilyph hunting?" Alma asked. Duma shook their head. "That won't be necessary. See, Sigilyph's a mysterious Pokémon, hyphotesized by many to have been the guardian of an ancient city." They pointed at the Relic Castle. "Those ruins belonged to said ancient city. Roughly 2500 years ago, a bustling civilization lived here, and Sigilyphs were said to have been put in place to protect it."

Duma looked around. "Those Pokémon still tread along the ancient streets of the now forgotten city. If I'm not mistaken, one of the paths they take is..." They started walking again, and Alma followed suit. They stopped at a certain point, smiling triumphantly. "Here, if I remember correctly." "Uh, no offense, but I don't see any-"  
Her eyes widened as she spotted it too - a majestic, mysterious looking Pokémon, approaching at a brisk pace.

"It's him! It's Sigilyph!" she exclaimed. "The lucky star must've blessed you! They're usually a bit trickier to track down. Well, what are you waiting for? Catch it." "You don't have to say it twice! I'm on it." She sent out Marble, careful to make him land on a lighter patch so he wouldn't sink in the deeper sand.

"Use Smack Down!" The Boldore obeyed, sending Sigilyph pummeling to the ground. The wild Pokémon seemed to be pretty offended, and retaliated by hitting Marble with a Psybeam. Fortunately, the sandstorm actually helped out the Rock type by increasing his special defense, and he took minimal damage. "Smack Down again!"

Already weakened, the Sigilyph was hit by the move and by the time the ball flew towards him, he couldn't really do anything to stop it. It moved once, two times, and then clicked to signal the successful capture.  
"Well done, Alma. You got what you wanted." "I couldn't have done it without you, Duma. Thank you very much for your wisdom and company. They were both much appreciated."

Duma chuckled. "Stop, you're going to make me blush. You're headed to Nimbasa next, right?" "Yes. I need to get Tom's badge and then I can move on." "I see. Well, in that case, I can accompany you until the gates of Nimbasa and then I'll have to go back." "You'd do that?" Alma asked, her eyes basically sparkling.  
"Of course. Now stop looking at me with those shiny eyes or I WILL blush." "That sounded like a menace." "Maybe it is." Duma stated, a smile in their eyes. "Oh no, my biggest weakness! Cute people blushing."

They bantered until they reached the gates of Nimbasa. Alma smiled at her travelling companion. "It's truly been an honor getting to know you, Duma." "Likewise. If you ever pass by these sands or even Driftveil, we might see each other again." "I'll look forward to that. Safe travels to you, friend." "Safe travels. Good luck on your gym challenge."

Alma waved to them and then headed inside, where she was throughly checked for weapons or potentially dangerous items. Once she had been deemed safe, she moved on and finally entered the city.

Nimbasa was the core of Unova's entertainment industry, and it showed. Between the sport stadiums, the Musical Theatre and the amusement park, there was plenty to do there. She rang Angela's number on the Xtransceiver and waited for her to pick up.  
"Hello?" she picked up after a short while. "Angie! How are you?" "I'm great, thanks. Wait, there's a lot of noise. Where are you calling from?" "I got to Nimbasa!" "That's great! I'm going to be there soon as well. We'll have a good time before the Musical Festival together!"

Alma could barely contain her excitement. "That's great! Have you heard anything from Miria?" "Yes, she called me to tell me she got the badge and she'll be joining us on day two of the Musical Festival." Alma pouted. "She called you and didn't call me? Rude." "I'll be sure to tell her you were really offended, next time she calls me." "Hey! Don't tease me like that!"

Angela chuckled. "Sorry, sorry, I'm just playing. See you in three days so we can hang out a bit before the festival? I need to run some errands for the professor." "Of course. See you!" "Sure! Bye!"  
Alma inhaled. 'Well, time to explore the city, train a bit, and most importantly have some fun!'

* * *

"Is it a good time to come in?" Ester smiled warmly. "It's always a good time for someone such as yourself, Cecilia. Come on in." The superstar of the Pokémon Musical, Cecilia Reiner herself, entered the office, donning an elaborate green dress that enhanced her light green eyes and impeccable black hair. Ester eyed her quickly. "As dazzling as ever, even for a meeting as formal as this one." "You're the one talking, young lady. You look as stunning as ever."

The billionaire chuckled. "Let's cut to the chase then, shall we?" She slid a contract her way. "As I've already anticipated via phone, this is an offer of sponsorship by the Laurent company, with the hope that it could become a mutual collaboration. Please take all the time you need to read and consider the offer I'm making to you."  
Cecilia started reading, quickly scanning the contract. "You're really going strong on the self-promotion lately." "I'm merely looking for stars that could benefit my image to promote my brand, Cecilia." Ester's eyes narrowed as she locked eyes with the star. "Surely, you understand that pretty well."

Cecilia smiled. "I do. And your rate is really generous, which is great, but... I'm afraid I must decline." "Oh?" Ester tilted her head. "Is it because you're still finishing your tour, or is it because of something in the contract?" "Well, mostly because of the tour, but... this contract is pretty binding, isn't it?"  
"I like to have things under. my. control." Ester chuckled, tapping her fingers on the desk. "If that's too much for you, you have all rights to refuse. But I'd like to remind you that the benefits for working under my wing far outweigh the cons."

Cecilia's smile got a little more forceful. "I am well aware. So you're planning to spread your influence in the entertainment sector as well." Ester scoffed. "Oh, but my dear Cecilia, I already have." "Knowing you, you've already got a lot of underground contracts and ties to the industry, huh?"  
The younger woman shot her a cold, amused gaze. "You're getting pretty bold with your words, aren't you? But yes, that is the truth. And the more power I acquire, the more I can make someone... say, fade into irrelevance."

Ester smiled courtly. "Now, if you don't want the contract, I'll kindly ask you to leave. I have a lot of things to take care of. But Cecilia, since we're such good friends, I'll give you time to mull it over. Take as much time as you want. Oh, and good luck for the upcoming Musical Festival." "Thank you." the other woman replied coldly.  
The star took the papers, got up and left briskly, as Ester watched her leave with a smile still on her face.

Her advisor, Nash, entered the office soon after. "Pardon the intrusion, my lady." "I know you want to talk about her. Make it quick." "Well, I see you've failed to add Cecilia to your ranks." Ester shook her head. "Oh, Nash, you still don't see? I've got her wrapped around my little finger. It's not a question of whether she'll sign or not, but when."  
Ester's gaze fell on her copy of the contract. "The thing is, people like her are so driven by ambition and desire to stay relevant that they'll do anything the moment their stardom starts to dim. She'll yield. Even if it means selling her soul to the devil."

She looked at Nash, who was chuckling. "You truly are heartless, Ester." "So are you. Don't give me that look as if we're different. You know that's why we get along so well." She went back to her documents. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I'm a very busy woman." "Then, I shall take my leave." "Thanks."

* * *

The days before the Musical Festival quickly passed by, as Alma and Angela hung out and had their fun at the amusement park. Alma was not into any sports, but Angela occasionally went to see matches in Small Court, one of the two main sport arenas of Nimbasa City. When alone, Alma usually waited for Angela at the hotel they were staying in, watching TV shows or grooming her Pokémon.

Finally, the grand opening day came, and with it people from all over Unova. Nimbasa was full of joy and excitement for the festival, and even though the increased security measures meant that there were going to be very long queues, most people understood that it was necessary to prevent another terrorist attack.

"Thank god for VIP tickets" Alma sighed, as she walked holding hands with her best friend to avoid losing her in that big crowd. "Yep, we managed to skip most of the queue." Suddenly, Angela's eyes lit up. "Oh, Ryo!" She walked up to see him, bringing Alma along with her.  
The Icirrus City gym leader was donning a security uniform and was checking his Xtransceiver. As soon as he spotted them, he smiled. "Hey, Angela!"

"It's been a long while, hasn't it?" Angela greeted him. Alma looked from side to side, confused. "Wait, you two know each other?" "Yeah, I challenged his gym when he was still a newly appointed gym leader and we hear from each other from time to time when I pass by Icirrus City."  
Angela turned to look at him after addressing Alma. "I trust you've been doing well and still destroying hopeful trainers' dreams." Ryo laughed. "If you put it like that, I look like a total douche. But yes, I have been doing well. What about you? And... Alma, if I recall correctly? How have you been holding up?"

Alma was quite surprised that he still remembered her name - their meeting had taken place quite some time ago. "I'm good, thank you for asking." she replied. "I'm feeling good too. Professor let me have some free days to enjoy the festival, so I'm not complaining." "Ah, you're still helping out. What a diligent lady you are." Ryo chuckled.

Before the conversation could go on any further, though, he was called by someone. "Hey, Ryo! We need you at security to address a situation." He sighed. "I'm coming." He waved to both of them as he disappeared in one of the pavilions.  
"Man, he sure has a tough job. Making sure this event is secure with this many people running around is one hell of a task." Angela commented, scratching her head.

"For sure." Alma checked her clock. "We have roughly one hour and a half of free time before the grand performance. Are you ready to see Cecilia Reiner's performance on stage... live?" "Oh, am I! I am super ready. I can't wait for her and her majestic Pokémon to take the stage." Angela was basically beaming with excitement, and Alma chuckled. She was so cute when she was like this, discarding all mature fronts and just really enjoying what she was invested in.

After grabbing some drinks and popcorns in anticipation of what was to come, they headed to the Musical Theatre, which was packed. Even arriving fourty-five minutes before the opening act, they had to wait for a while before being allowed in. "Just in time. The show is starting in fifteen minutes!" Angela whispered.  
They sat down and just as Alma was starting to get comfortable in her VIP chair, she heard someone sitting near her.

She turned to see who it was and almost had a heart attack seeing Ester right there, in an elegant black suit, looking at the stage with interest. "Wh... wha..." Her babbling alerted the billionaire, who turned to see her. "Oh, hello. I've already seen you somewhere, right?"  
Alma managed to form a coherent sentence. "Yes, back in Nacrene. I'm Alma. Pleasure to meet you."

"Alma, eh? That's a nice name. Well... I don't believe I require an introduction, but I'm Ester Auguste Laurent." Alma blushed, deeply, and silently prayed that Angela would help her in some way find the courage to talk to her. Unfortunately, her friend had just gone to the bathroom. 'Oh COME ON!'  
"Is everything alright?" Ester asked, looking at her curiously. "Yes. Yes. It is. Um... Sorry for zoning out. I did not know you liked Musicals."

Ester chuckled. "Oh, I don't. I find them abysmally boring. But what is fun is gauging trends, customer interest, overall engagement-" she cut herself off, noticing Alma's confused expression. "Aaaand here I go again. I meant that I come for the fun of it." "I see." Alma blinked, unable to process words or think properly. At that point, she was probably just babbling.

"I truly hope they put on a show worth your time, then. I've heard opening night is great, even though I've never actually been here in person." she finally managed to say. "That's fair enough." Alma thought it couldn't get worse, but then Ester put her hand on hers and purred: "Let's enjoy the show then, shall we?"  
"Y-Y-Yes." Ok, now she was definitely looking like a tomato.

When Angela came back, she looked at Alma questioningly, noticing her expression which was floating between "I want to die" and "I'm literally in heaven right now". Alma signed "later" to her as the lights went off and the curtains parted to reveal Cecilia Reiner standing on the stage, in a beautiful blue dress.  
'Wow. She really looks a lot like Miria. I don't know how I haven't noticed it before.' the trainer pondered.

The crowd cheered and she let it go on for a few seconds before asking for silence by raising her hand. "Hello, everyone. Thank you for coming to the Musical Festival. As always, you're all looking fabulous! Our Pokémon will repay your enthusiasm with a performance for the heavens!"  
"As you all know, I'm Cecilia Reiner, and I'm an actress on the rise, the star of the show, and soon-to-be queen of your hearts!"

She winked and everyone went absolutely insane, as Alma couldn't help but notice just how closely Miria's speech pattern when she still dismissed them resembled her mother's. She clapped with the crowd, and just before Cecilia left the stage, she noticed her, for a split second, looking at her. No... at the seat at her left. At Ester.  
She turned her head to see the billionaire smiling coldly and wondered if they had any history together, but it quickly faded as the show begun.

The show was outstanding. The Pokémon dancing on stage were all incredibly talented, and Cecilia's Milotic especially looked dazzling. It commanded attention on stage like no other, and made the others look like background dancers despite all of them being incredibly entertaining and engaging.  
The props and backgrounds were colorful and lively, a perfect backdrop to the performances on stage, and the amount of effort put into the musical was clearly visible.

After the trainers took the curtain call, the audience went wild, clapping and cheering loudly. Everyone in the theatre seemed to really enjoy it, and even Ester allowed herself a light clap.  
When the show ended, everyone dispersed, and the billionaire rose up. "Well, that wasn't a complete waste of time, I suppose." she commented. She gave Alma a small wave before going away and the trainer reciprocated, trying to pull herself together and act tough.

Once she was gone, Angela tapped Alma's shoulder. "Hey, what happened in there?" "Well, no big deal. I was just seated next to Ester Auguste Laurent and I may or may not have destroyed my social life." "What. The. Hell. Tell me everything!"  
They chatted for a bit as Alma told her about what happened, and Angela stayed silent until the end, where she went "Wait... for real? That was amazing. Shame she doesn't like musicals, though. That detracts a few points."

"I thought I was going to die. I turned as red as a tomato at some point, and... aaaaagh." "Seems like someone has a crush on a certain famous billionaire." "WHAT? Don't even suggest it!" Angela laughed. "I was joking! But I mean, who can blame you? Who wouldn't want an accomplished, rich and famous wife?"  
Alma buried her face in her hands. "Stop it. I'm dying right here and you seem hell bent on making me feel worse."

Angela rolled her eyes. "Overdramatic much? Miria might be rubbing off on you." "Shut up." They exited the theatre together, and Alma was finally able to cool off. "Well, that was something." "Yeah... But the night's still young. Want to go get some drinks and hang out until we fall asleep?"  
Alma laughed. "That may just be what I need right now."  
Overall, the day had been wonderful. But their joy was doomed to be short-lived.

After a girls' night out, it was the second day of the Musical Festival. As Miria had said, it was the variety shows' day, aiming to showcase new artists and a chance for already popular ones to get picked up by a famous record label or company and make it big in an already saturated market.

And as promised, Miria arrived early in the morning, carrying her bag and luggage. She was greeted by Alma and Angela, waiting for her at the city gates. "Hi, girls! A little help?" she asked sheepishly, pointing at her bags. "Man, only you could turn a couple of girls in a transportation company." Angela shook her head with a sigh, but took the heavier bags and helped carry them to the hotel.

Once there, Miria put her hands together. "Alright. Let's go check the Musical Festival out, shall we?" "Ok, but... what's that hoodie for? I don't remember you ever wearing them." Alma asked, seeing her change into a heavy looking black hoodie. Miria looked down. "I don't want to be recognized by the people working with my mom. It's always embarassing."

Alma remembered her previous attempt at a "disguise" at the trainer school, where she had worn a ridiculous blonde wig. This time, it was more inconspicuos, but... "You kind of look like a thug, Miria." Miria lowered her hoodie, annoyed. "Are you ever going to mind your own business? I'd rather look like a thug than be Cecilia Reiner's daughter in an event practically made to stroke her ego."  
Angela and Alma exchanged a look. "Well... alright then. Let's go." "Wait! My disguise's not complete yet." She put on some extravagant pink sunglasses and smiled. "Ok, now it's done."

"And here I thought you had gotten better at hiding your identity..." Alma sighed. Angela shook her head. "No. Absolutely not. Take off the glasses. You look ridiculous. Put on some normal ones, and then we can talk." "Hey! I'm the one with the fashion sense here!" Miria protested. "Maybe, but clearly lacking in common sense. Come with me, I'll buy you some less suspicious glasses." Angela patted her on the back and escorted her outside, with Miria grumbling something about "impertinent little women".

After putting on some more reasonable glasses, they strolled over to the Musical Festival. The variety shows ranged from hidden gems to embarassing but still entertaining, but they had a good time. "I can't BELIEVE that guy tripped over his Pokémon's tail while they were performing. Poor chap. But his show was pretty good. If he gets enough endorsement, he'll make it big." Miria commented once they exited one of the pavillion hosting a "one man (and his Pokémon) band with nine instruments" show.

"Let's hope so. It was, frankly, pretty impressive." Angela chuckled, eating some candies she had gotten from a nearby stall. "Would you look at the time, though! It's already starting to get dark." Alma noted. "Well, time flies when you have fun and- oh no. Oh no." "What's wrong?"

Miria pointed to a dolled up woman looking around, seemingly quite displeased with something - it was only when she got closer they realized she was Cecilia Reiner. When she spotted Miria, she rapidly approached them. "Get ready, girls. It's going to get ugly." Miria whispered, sweat running down her face.

"MIRIA REINER!" Some people turned to look at her, but quickly looked away when Cecilia shot them killer looks. "H-Hi, mom." "You haven't replied to any of my fourty calls from yesterday OR today. Care to explain yourself, or are you going to keep being a rebellious daughter and pretending your poor, dear mother doesn't exist?"

Miria took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, mom. But I did say I would've gotten here on the second day." "Did you now? Why did you miss your mother's big opener show?" "... terrorists." Miria's voice was so low and timid, Alma and Angela could barely hear her from standing near her.  
"Oh, yes. _Terrorists_. You're a horrible liar, and you know that too. You should up your game if you want any kind of acting or Musical career." Only then she seemed to notice Alma and Angela, and her face shifted to a grimace of discomfort.

"And who are these girls?" "They... they are my friends." Cecilia scoffed. "Oh, my poor little girl. I see now sending you on your little adventure was a big mistake. You seem to have forgotten what's really important. But no matter! We have time to fix this. I have a great surprise for you, sweetie!"  
Miria raised her head. "You... you do?" "Yes! I have told my sponsors that tomorrow I will bring them a beautiful new star, a rough diamond that has yet to be polished. You. I trust you have been training your Pokémon for their Musical debut, have you not?"

Miria seemed to get vaguely irritated. "No, mom. I've been training them for battle." Cecilia's smile disappeared as soon as it came. "What did you say?" Miria seemed to immediately regret her words and looked as if she was about to break down, but she felt someone squeeze her hand. Angela had taken her hand and was looking at her.  
She gulped and managed to find the courage to go on.

"I don't want to be a musical star anymore, mom. Not in the near future, at least. I... I have grown very attached to my Pokémon during my journey, I've been collecting gym badges, meeting new people and having all kinds of new experiences. I might get into musicals in the future, that's a possibility as well, but for now... I want to see this new world. I want to cherish my Pokémon and have my fun for a little while longer. Is that... is that too much to ask?"

For a long while, there was silence. Then, Cecilia pulled the ugliest, most disgusted face and muttered: "You immature failure of a daughter." Her hand moved to slap Miria, but as the girl flinched and braced herself for impact, one of the Pokéballs inside her bag glowed and her Liepard Star came out, putting herself between Miria and her mother and hissing menacingly.

Cecilia immediately retracted her hand. "You... you dare use your rabid cat against me?" Miria opened her eyes and saw Star looking at her protectively. Her eyes became lucid as she petted her Pokémon's head. Then, she looked up at her mother. "Her name's _Star_. Something I will become too, in my own way."  
Cecilia trembled with fury. "You're going to regret this, young girl. You're going to really regret this." She stomped away, leaving the girls alone.

Miria fell to the ground, as Star headbutted her gently. "Thank you." she sighed. "You're special to me, Star. I won't forget this." She withdrew her Liepard as the other two girls stood there, unsure of what to say. "Well, that was... intense" Alma commented hesitantly.  
"Wow, she's a proper prat!" Angela seemed way less hesitant. "Angela!" Alma gasped. She had never heard her best friend talk like that. "What? It's the truth. It seemed like she didn't care about Miria at all!"

Miria shook her head. "She never did. All I ever was to her was a mannequin to be dolled up and participate in her... silly musicals." she sniffled. "I don't want to be here anymore. Let's go home."  
Alma and Angela exchanged a look. "Yeah... let's." They accompanied her to the hotel. They didn't talk for the rest of the evening, letting Miria sob and offering her moral support with their company.

* * *

As Cecilia finished her tour of the Musical Festival, she was approached by one of her sponsors. He did not look happy. "I've received word of your unsavory conduct towards your daughter and her... little friends. I've also heard whispers that you won't be bringing us any new stars tomorrow."  
Cecilia forced herself to smile through the seething anger she was feeling. "Nonsense! You must've mish-" "Cecilia, you do understand that this year's Musical Festival turnout has been at an all time low, right?"

"Sure, but it was still pretty great-" "Pretty great is not good enough. We need amazing, spectacular, breathtaking shows with lots and lots of people watching. This year, you did not meet your usual standard, and you know that there's a queue of young hopeful stars just dying to take your place, right?"  
Cecilia gritted her teeth. "I know that perfectly well." "Very good. Then I believe you know that unless you find a miracle way to restore your image and fame, we'll be dropping you to the B tier list of celebrities. And you don't want that, do you?" "Of course not. I'll find a workaround." "Great. Have an amazing evening, Cecilia."

The sponsor left, leaving her even more seething with rage and hatred. "Swanna, come out." she grumbled. "Fly me to Castelia. I have some business there."

* * *

Ester was startled by the sound of her door springing open. "Dear lord!" she exclaimed, watching Cecilia appear on the threshold. "I'm so sorry, boss! I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen to reason!" The secretery chimed in apologetically.  
"It's not a problem. Cecilia, care to explain what you're doing here at this hour?" Ester asked. "I've... reconsidered your offer." "That's great! May I ask you what prompted this sudden change of heart?"

Cecilia nodded and explained her thought process. "After careful consideration, I've decided the Laurent brand is suitable to elevate my career even further. I want to aim higher and I believe you're the right person to help me do that."

Ester narrowed her eyes. She knew it was a lie, even though it was a fairly impressive performance. Cecilia's mask tended to slip when she was pressured. 'She probably came to me to shield herself from some recent controversy and from a possible lack of sponsorships. Well, whatever the reason...'  
"I am glad you decided to change your mind. I'll look for a copy of the contract."

Cecilia smiled. "I am truly grateful, Ester. I apologize for intruding at this hour. The Musical Festival has truly been an..." Her lips trembled, and for a second her mask slipped again, as her tone got cold. "... emotional experience for me."  
'Ooh, she's angry. Well, that just means she's easier to manipulate into making rushed decisions like this, after all.' Ester thought. "It's not a problem, really." She gave her the contract and Cecilia signed without a second thought.

Ester's smile widened. "A pleasure doing business with you."


	8. Renewed resolve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Dealing with the aftermath of the Musical Festival isn't easy for any of the girls, especially for Miria, who finds herself in a sticky situation. Meanwhile, Alma goes to schedule an encounter with Tom, Nimbasa's gym leader, to get her fourth badge._

After the disastrous fiasco that was the encounter with Cecilia Reiner, the girls all agreed not to go see the grand finale of the musical festival, where the star would've taken center stage. Instead, they all hung out together at a bar, trying to distract a stressed out Miria. After a while, though, she got up. "I'm sorry, girls. I know you're trying your best to cheer me up, but this isn't working for me. I'll go training for a bit to cool off."

As they watched her leave, Alma sighed and looked at Angela. "Do you think she's going to be ok?" "Eventually, she will. But she will need time. That... wasn't the most pleasant family reunion." "For real." There was a moment of silence, then Angela spoke again. "Maybe we should take a page out of her book and focus on what we need to do for now. The musical festival's ruined anyway."

Alma shook her head. "I can't believe it ended like this, but you're right. We need to focus on the future, and for me that's going to be the fourth gym. I need to train to handle Tom's steel types, and now that I think about it I also need to schedule the gym challenge. I'll go there as soon as we're done here."  
"Great idea. I'll catch up with the professor and see if he needs anything." Angela smiled at her. "We're going to be ok. All of us. We're strong. We can take on the world."

Alma nodded. "You're right. I also have to believe this. Otherwise things will get too heavy to handle." She inhaled. "Let's get our stuff done with and concentrate on the now, shall we?" "Let's."  
After finishing their breakfast, they went their separate ways, Alma towards the gym and Angela to Route 16 after receiving a call from Leon to check out Lostlorn Forest.

The gym was located in the amusement park, so the young trainer made her way there. It was a relatively unassuming building, and the only indication it was a gym was the sign outside of it. For a grandiose city like Nimbasa, it kind of seemed out of place.  
She entered and was greeted by a medium-sized silver robot, with a screen on its belly that lit up as soon as she stepped into its range. "Bzzz. Commencing protocol. Checking visitor." She was scanned by a red ray that covered her entire body, then the screen lit up with a green light.

"Bzz. Visitor deemed safe. Commencing introduction." The robot rotated on itself and gave a small wave. "Hi! I'm Billy, Tom's personant assistant. I would very much like to help you today. Please use the touch screen to select desired function." She crouched down and saw four options on the screen: "Gym challenge", "Friend/parent visiting", "Home delivery meal", "Commercial/business inquiries". She saw, under the options, a small Tom-like drawing giving a peace sign with the text: "Please choose in under 30 seconds! Billy gets confused otherwise."

Alma pressed on Gym challenge and Billy's screen lit up with a loading screen. "Please wait patiently. I am processing your information and redirecting you to the function you selected." After a bit, the screen showed an office where someone was clearly very busy working. Even seeing him from behind, Alma recognized him instantly: messy dark blue high ponytail and his signature silver and white lab coat - the person on screen was Tom, the gym leader.

"Tom! There's a challenger waiting for you." Billy's voice croaked through the speakers. Tom jumped up, startled, and almost dropped what he was working on - something that vaguely resembled a new iteration of the Xtransceiver.  
"Lord! I should really lower the speakers' volume..." he sighed, then he turned towards the screen and adjusted it.

"Hi! I'll come right away. Give me five minutes to put away my things and I'll be there." Tom stated, as the communication cut to black. Billy whirred to life again. "I'll escort you to the waiting room." Alma nodded and followed the small robot as she sat on one of the sofas in the waiting room.  
"My job here is done. To space and beyond! Bzzzz!" Billy went away with a cheerful beeping sound, and Alma blinked, slightly confused. 'Well, if the owner has even half the personality of this robot...' she thought.

She didn't have to wait that long for Tom to show up - the gym leader had quickly fixed up his pony, and without his glasses she could see his grey eyes, filled with curiousity and liveliness. Even though he was in his late twenties, he seemed accomplished and sparkling with life. Alma admired him for that.

"Hi! Sorry I took a while. I wasn't expecting someone to come visit me during the Musical Festival." The trainer cringed a little. "Well, yeah, neither was I... but that's beside the point. How are you?" "Great, actually. I've been working on a new iteration of the Xtransceiver, but struggling to meet the Laurent's tight deadline... anyway, it'll be ready soon, and then you can all enjoy the fruits of all that hard work."

Alma furrowed her brow. "I didn't know the Laurents owned the Xtransceiver." "Oh, yeah, it used to belong to another company, but they bought it for an astronomical amount and they own it now, jacking up the prize of such an important item while adding minimal functional changes. Really makes you think about how ruthless and unforgiving a monopoly can be, huh?"

There was a moment of silence while Alma processed the information, but before she could ask any other questions Tom grinned. "But you didn't come here to listen to me talk about that stuff, didn't you? You came for the gym challenge." "Ah, yes, of course. Um... when's your nearest open slot to battle?" "Take your pick. I'm pretty free, most challengers battled me before the festival and I have no scheduled encounters as of now." "I see. Well, maybe... in the next four days or so? Is that good?" Alma asked.

"It's good. I don't mind. I'll schedule our encounter right now. Billy?" The robot whirred to life and rushed in. "Yes, Tom?" "Schedule an encounter with a challenger in four days. Let's say... at two o' clock in the afternoon?" "Sure. Memorizing new event... bzz... and... Done! Event scheduled." "Great, thanks. Can you fetch me some coffee while you're at it? I need it to keep working for a little longer." "Sure thing, Tom. Fetching coffee, bzzz."

Billy scurried away as Alma whistled, impressed. "That's a pretty great robot assistant you've got there." "You like it? Billy's my best creation. The second best would probably be Sammy, my supply bot." "Supply bot?" "It goes to the market and shops for me. It has a constantly updated memory to find the products I'm looking for and extendable limbs that can fetch things even in the highest shelves."

Alma's eyes widened. "That sounds... really incredible, actually." "Isn't it? Recently I've even managed to implement the Helping Ones In Need function." "And... what does that do, exactly?" Tom smiled proudly. "Well, if someone addresses Sammy asking it to grab something on a high shelf, it does exactly that."  
"... Wow. Ok. I'm starting to think you're wasted as a gym leader. You should be a full time tech genius."

Tom chuckled. "You're flattering me. I actually find being a gym leader to be a really rewarding job." "Well, if you're happy then that's great." The man checked the clock. "I should get back to work. I need to get this done in two days, or Nash's going to kill me. Well, it was a pleasure chatting with you- ah!" Billy came back, a cup of coffee in his mechanical hands.  
"Bzzz! I'm back. A macchiato, Tom! Your favorite." "Oh, man, you do know how to make me happy! Alright, see you, Alma!" "See you, Tom."  
Alma exited the gym, and went off to Route 5 to get some training done.

* * *

Angela strolled through Lostlorn Forest, carefully evaluating her surroundings to check if there were any rare Pokémon. Leon had told her that lately there had been rare sightings of Leavanny, Whimsicotts and Lilligants, which were usually really tricky to find in the wild, and had asked her to check the area for any of those Pokémons.

What she wasn't expecting to find there was Miria, looking downtrodden as she withdrew her Swadloon after a battle. "Oh, hey Miria. Wasn't expecting to see you here." The other girl sighed. "I was training, but then... well." She turned to face her. "I found out that my mother has cut off all of my fundings. So I'm in a bit of a pinch right now. I only have my pocket money. Unless I find any solutions, I'm going to have to start cutting a lot of expenses, and I'm not sure how I'll even finish my journey like this. I'm going to have to start looking for a side gig or some way to get money other than trainer battles, because those are not going to cover all expenses."

Her tone was disinterested, but Angela could feel her emotions bubbling underneath: hurt, confusion, sadness, anger... She sat on a nearby tree stump. "Well, if money's your problem, I can ask Leon if he has any side projects so you can get some money. We get to hang out and you refill your pockets. It's not going to be the stellar pay or the luxurious lifestyle you were used to, but..."

Miria sat near her, sighing. "Right now, I'll take any solutions I can get. I'm frankly lost, Angela. I know I need to pull through and I must sound like such an entitled brat, but I've never had to do this before and I'm already struggling to find my identity without my mother." She smiled sadly. "I've always prided myself on being a Reiner, being a star, and even after telling my mother off at the festival, I'm not sure I can find my place in the world without relying on her."

Angela put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, listen. You're not alone. This is hard, but the life we chose was going to be hard, plus we have each other, right? There's no shame in asking for outside help." Miria clasped her hands together, flinching slightly. "Well... guess not. But it's going to be hard, and I'm going to need a while to adjust." "That's perfectly normal. You've had the rug pulled from under you after all."

Angela smiled at her. "Stand proud. You're a trainer now, and you have your Pokémon with you. No one can tell you what to do anymore." Miria smiled weakly. "I guess you're right. I'll go back to training for a while, then I'll try out my luck with Tom." She exhaled. "Thank you, Angela. I needed it." "Anytime."

* * *

After a while of training and preparation, Alma was ready to face the fourth gym. Steel was quite the sturdy type, but this time at least she didn't have the problem of more than half her team being very weak to fighting.  
"Alright, I'm counting on you guys." she whispered, the Pokéballs of Arin, Samson and Nicky in her hand.

She was greeted by Billy upon entering. "Bzzz! Identity confirmed as challenger Alma! This way, please!" She followed the robot to the stage, where Tom was waiting. He waved at her cheerily. "Hey, Alma. Welcome to my battle field!" "Hi, Tom." She looked at the so-called battlefield: it was... a metal floor.

"It's my experimental Battlefield 3000. The metal plates which form it will move and change form during the battle, so you need to be ready for everything! It's going to be a blast." Tom explained. "Wait... you said experimental?" "Yeah, it might be a little rough around the edges, but it was tested by certified staff sent by the Pokémon League itself!" "Huh..." Alma still wasn't 100% convinced, but she didn't have much of a choice.

"It'll be a 3v3, usual rules, only the challenger is allowed to switch Pokémon. Do you have any questions?" "Well, are you going to tell me more about the terrain?" "Nope. I can only tell you the plates will move and shift during the battle." Tom smiled mysteriously. Alma shrugged. "Then I'm good. Shall we start?" "Yes. Go forth, Spike!" "Samson, show me what you've got!"

The first two Pokémon were sent in - Samson was facing a Ferroseed. Alma vaguely recalled it being a very sturdy Pokémon, so she doubted it would only take a hit to take him down. "Samson, use Brick Break!" "Spike, Spikes!" '... Wow, original nickname' Alma thought with a chuckle. As Samson hit the supereffective move, he received damage due to Ferroseed's ability Iron Barbs, and the battlefield was covered in a layer of Spikes.

"Entry hazards, huh?" Alma scratched her head. She couldn't remove it in any way due to her team lacking Rapid Spinners, so her best bet was to break through the Ferroseed's defenses before he could set any more of them. "Brick Break again!" "Spikes!" Another layer, and just as the attack hit, there was a loud whirring sound as the battlefield buzzed to life.

"W-What the-" The metal plates were, in fact, moving, but they separated the battlers, with Samson sprinting upwards to a fairly elevated plain and Ferroseed remaining on groud level. This was going to make attacking more difficult, for both of them - the problem was that Tom didn't need to attack.

Recognizing that the next Brick Break would've probably injured Samson in the fall, she ordered him to use Incinerate, which was a ranged move so he didn't risk anything and he didn't hurt himself with Iron Barbs. The move was weaker simply due to the fact that Samson had low special attack, but since it was quad effective it still hurt a fair bit - another Incinerate and Ferroseed was out of commission. Before going down, though, Spike managed to set another layer of Spikes.

"Well done, Spike. Come back." Tom withdrew his mon and sent out his next fighter: an aggressive looking Durant. 'So he sent in someone who wouldn't be hit supereffectively by Fighting type moves. Well, I still have a fire type move, though.' "Tom, Incinerate!" "Anty, avoid it and go for Hone Claws!"

Alma had underestimated Durant's speed - the ant easily sidestepped the hit and set up Hone Claws, increasing his attack and accuracy. She was willing to bet he had Hustle, so any attack from him would've hit like a truck.  
"Don't let him set up more! Incinerate again!" As the platforms started moving again, Tom smiled. "Use Iron Head."

Alma's eyes widened as the sheer power of the hit sent Samson pummeling to the ground, immediately KO. 'Darn it! I can't risk losing some other Pokémon to this, or the entry hazards will punish my switches!' She had only one shot at winning now, and it was Nicky.

"Well done, Samson! Come back. Go, Nicky!" Alma withdrew her Scraggy and sent out the Watchog, who was weakened from three layers of spikes. Alma knew she had to wait for Tom to either get greedy or misplay - due to the opponent's high speed, she couldn't attack without risking him avoiding it. "Hone Claws!" As it turns out, Tom went for the greedy play, probably thinking that with another boost he could cleanly one-hit KO the Watchog and the rest of her team, probably.

Which was definitely the case, too bad Alma had another trick up her sleeve. "Gotcha! Nicky, Hypnosis!" Too busy setting up, Durant didn't manage to avoid the move and was put to sleep. The platforms moved to a more unfavorable setup, but Nicky managed to stay on hers without falling down.

"Nicky, Sunny Day!" The sun started shining brightly on the battlefield, as all Fire type moves were boosted. Tom smiled, already knowing what was going to happen. "Flamethrower!" The sun-boosted fire hit from Watchog knocked out Durant.  
"Unlucky. I didn't remember they got Flamethrower too. Well played." Tom chuckled, recalling his Durant.

The battle was now definitely in her favor. Not knowing his last Pokémon, and with Spikes on the field, she couldn't risk playing blindly. "Go, Gearspring!" His last Pokémon was Klang, which meant Nicky had to KO it or whittle it down significantly or its Electric type moves would've definitely put Arin in a bad position.

"Flamethrower!" There wasn't much left but spam Flamethrower, since now Tom knew about Hypnosis and would've probably played accordingly. "Gearspring, Charge Beam!" Both attacks hit, and even though Flamethrower did a hefty amount, it was no longer quad effective, so it was definitely not enough to KO.

Charge Beam also raised Klang's special attack, making it more of a threat. "Flamethrower, again!" "Gearspring, hit back with Flash Cannon!" Even though Flamethrower did a lot of damage, Nicky was hit by a boosted Flash Cannon which was enough to put her in range of KO.

As she was about to use another Flamethrower, though, the battlefield changed again. The platforms were both Pokémon were standing tilted, and while Gearspring levitated, she did not and ended up losing her balance, being immediately KO'd by another Flash Cannon.

"Agh... Great job out there, Nicky. Come back." Alma was down to her last Pokémon, but she felt pretty confident that Arin could clutch a victory. The Panpour entered the stage, looking serious and confident, even though seeing the sun shining so brightly did make him a bit uncomfortable.  
"Low Sweep!" she ordered, and Klang countered after being hit with a Thunderbolt that left him greatly weakened, even though he did manage to sidestep by dashing left... he was hurt, but not KO, and that was what mattered.

"Just one last push! Low Sweep again!" Panpour obeyed, and the Fighting type move KO-ed Klang. Alma breathed a sigh of relief. Tom clapped. "Great job! You won." He recalled his Gearspring and walked up to her as she withdrew Arin with a smile on her face. "Here it is. The Gear badge! And you get this shiny TM too." He gave her the TM for Flash Cannon and the badge, and she put them both in the bag.

"Thank you for the fight, Tom." "No problem. Just one word of advice, though... battles from here on out are going to be much tougher. You will have to be prepared for everything." Alma nodded. "I'll do my best. You gym leaders are a tough lot." Tom chuckled. "True. Good luck on your journey." "Thank you. Good luck with your projects."

Once out of the gym, Alma hesitated and then decided to call her mother. The Xtransceiver rang for a bit before her mom picked up. "Hey, sweetie. Everything ok?" "Yeah. I just got my fourth gym badge. What about you?" "I'm good. I'm happy to hear you safe and sound." "Oh, mom. How's Haruki? Haven't heard from that little pest in a while."

Her mom chuckled. "Well, he's out playing with his friends. One of them just got his new Pokémon and he won't stop pestering me about beginning his journey as well, but I told him there's no way, not until the terrorist threat is over." "That's fair. He's still a bit too young to put himself out there." Alma sighed. "The world is an intense place." "True, but it can be very rewarding and fun. I just pray nothing happens to you and you can enjoy it fully." "Thanks, mom."

They chatted for a few more minutes before her mother had to go. Alma closed the communication and healed her Pokémon before heading towards route 5, which connected Nimbasa to Driftveil City where her next gym challenge would've taken place.

Route 5 was mostly just a stepping stone for people wanting to go to Driftveil through the Driftveil Drawbridge, but it was full of street artists performing for small crowds, and to her surprise a lot of people had gathered there.  
She hung around for a while, listening to the performance of a particularly talented guitarist, then she got up to leave, when...

"Stop right there." She turned and saw Miria. "Oh, you're here! How are you feeling?" Alma asked her. "I'm feeling... a bit better, thanks. Still not completely fine, but I'll manage." she shrugged. She seemed a bit down, but Alma could see she had regained a bit of confidence.

"I trust you've obtained the fourth badge as well?" Miria asked her. "Yes, I have. I was heading to Driftveil City right about now." "Well then, how would you feel about a battle? I feel like we haven't had one in a while."  
Alma smiled. "You wanna test my progress?" "Well, I want to test mine as well." the other girl replied. "That's fair. How many Pokémon do you have?" "At the moment, I have four." "Then let's do a 4v4." Miria nodded. "Fine by me. Let's go."

They both sent out their first Pokémon. Alma led up with Marble, mostly because she wanted to set up rocks, and Miria led off with Glimmer, her Blitzle that had evolved into Zebstrika. "Glimmer, Volt Switch!" Recognizing the bad matchup, Miria decided to Volt Switch out to get some damage and switch into something more comfortable.  
"Marble, Stealth Rock!" As the Boldore was about to set up entry hazards, Glimmer hit him with Volt Switch before switching out into a female Frillish. Since Glimmer was way faster, the opposing Water type took no damage as the rocks landed on the field.

"Velour, Scald!" The water type move hit Marble supereffectively, and the Boldore suffered a nasty hit. Recognizing he wasn't going to hang on for much longer, Alma ordered him to use Rock Slide to whittle down Frillish before going down to another Scald. "Well done, Marble. You did your best."  
Alma withdrew him and sent out Samson, as ready to fight as ever. "Samson, Crunch!" "Scald again!" Scraggy ran towards Velour and hit her with a powerful Crunch that lowered her defenses - thankfully, Scald didn't burn, but even if it did, Samson had Shed Skin to heal himself.

"Crunch!" The super effective hit finished the job, and Velour was down for the count. Miria sighed and withdrew her. "You did well. Rest now." She sent out her next Pokémon, a Leavanny. Miria probably didn't know Samson had Incinerate, or was really confident her Leavanny could take him out. Either way, Leavanny took a considerable amount of damage from Stealth Rock, being weak to rock.

"Silky, Aerial Ace!" "Incinerate!" Leavanny was faster, and he hit first, but as soon as she was in range Samson hit him with the fire type move, not KOing but putting him in Swarm range. And Miria knew it. "X-Scissors!" The Swarm-boosted bug type move was more than enough to knock out the already weakened Scraggy, and Alma recalled him.

"Great job, Samson. Come back! Go, Zeph!" Zeph was the nickname she had chosen for her Sigilyph, and she was pretty confident he could get an easy revenge KO. "Air Cutter!" "Silky, avoid it and go for X-Scissors!" Unfortunately for Miria, Leavanny was a bit too weakened to sidestep properly, and he went down without being able to land another hit.

"So that's how it is, huh? Unfortunate, but you still did well. Come back." Miria sent out Star, and the Liepard landed perfectly on her feet upon exiting the Pokéball, with an elegant tail movement. She took some damage from Stealth Rock, but not as much as Silky. "Zeph, Air Cutter!" "I won't let you! Fake Out!" Star moved with impressive speed, making Zeph flinch as she hit him again with Night Slash before he could react.

The Sigilyph was severely weakened - another supereffective hit, and he would've been KO'd. Alma considered the idea of switching out to save him, but then she remembered Miria's last mon was Zebstrika. Her best bet was trying to land a hit before going down.  
"Zeph, Air Cutter!" "Night Slash!" Air Cutter managed to do some chip damage before Night Slash hit, but Liepard was still relatively healthy.

"Good job, Zeph. Come back." Alma thought about her options. Sending in Arin against a healthy Liepard and a Zebstrika was a suicidal move, so her next best course of action was sending in Nicky. "Go, Nicky!" The Watchog landed on the field, ready to show her best performance.

Even if her moves were still adapted to the steel gym with that Sun set, she still had an ace up her sleeve. "Nicky, use Retaliate!" "Star, Night Slash!" The normal type move hit with doubled force, since Zeph had fainted in the last turn. Miria clearly was not expecting the sheer amount of damage coming out of that move, and even if Star did manage to land a last Night Slash, she was immediately KO'd.

"Oh, that hurt! You did great, darling. Come back." Miria withdrew Liepard and sent out her last Pokémon, Glimmer. The Zebstrika took chip damage from rocks, but had not taken any other damage during his fight with Marble, so he was ready to go.  
"Glimmer, Discharge!" "Nicky, get up close and use Retaliate!" The only way to win the 1v1 was putting Zebstrika to sleep, and to do that she needed to get closer.

Nicky managed to tank the Discharge, not very well but at least Retaliate hit - and once she was in range, Alma ordered her Pokémon to use Hypnosis.  
Miria's eyes widened - Zebstrika attempted to turn the other way, but was hit anyway and was put to sleep.

"Retaliate!" "Glimmer, wake up, please!" Miria's pleads fell on deaf ears as the sleep afflicted Zebstrika was KO'd by a flurry of Retaliates without being able to defend herself.  
Miria looked saddened by the loss, but she quickly composed herself. Before she could give her the money for the victory, Alma smiled and shook her head. "It's ok, keep it. You fought well, and it was pretty close. I wouldn't have won if it wasn't for Stealth Rock's chip damage anyway."

Miria sighed in disappointment. "It's unfortunate, but it means I have to try even harder next time. I need to sort out my problems, so I can become a better trainer. I owe it to my Pokémon as well." Alma put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't be so hard on yourself! You've improved drastically, and you keep improving every time we fight. As I said, you fought well. I look forward to our next battle."

Miria nodded. "Next time, I'll devise a strategy that will knock you out for sure!" "And I can't wait to see it. Good luck for everything, Miria." "Same to you."  
As she watched her leave, Alma started walking towards Driftveil Drawbridge thoughtfully. Miria was getting stronger by the minute, and she had to work even harder if she wanted to keep up.

When she reached the Drawbridge, which was fortunately lowered so she didn't have to wait any further, she was surprised to see some balloons and celebratory banners floating around, saying "50th anniversary of Driftveil Drawbridge". As soon as she attempted to cross it, though, she was throughly checked by security (as she had grown accustomed to lately) and, once deemed safe, she walked towards Driftveil.

The red bridge was majestic and elegant, with Swannas and Duckletts flying overhead. Alma managed to get a clear light blue feather which fell from the sky, and she kept it because it looked really pretty.  
Once she had finished crossing the bridge, she finally arrived in Driftveil City.


	9. Fair games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _As Alma's journey to become Champion reaches the midway point, she finds herself in the port city of Driftveil. Hanging out with gym leader Daku and another familiar face, she enjoys her time in the fair - however, the gym challenge awaiting her is not going to be so easy._

If Nimbasa was the city of entertainment and Castelia was the city of business, Driftveil was definitely the main port city. The main hub of import and export to all regions outside of Unova, it was surrounded by water on pretty much all sides. The houses all had orange roofs and the architecture was simplistic but efficient.

Alma knew she had one or two places of interest to visit, but before all that she decided to check out the gym, since she feared that with such a busy city the gym schedule would've been a bit crowded as well, and she didn't plan to stay too long like in Nimbasa or Castelia. The sooner she scheduled the gym battle, the better.  
She headed to the gym and she found it to be... well, basically empty. The gym assistant was reading what seemed to be a gossip magazine, and immediately shoved it to the side when she spotted Alma.

"Hello there! Looking for the gym leader, I presume?" she asked her. "Yes. I'm a gym challenger." "Well, you're out of luck. Today he's been busy with the Driftveil fair, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Driftveil Drawbridge. If you want to talk to him, though, you'll find him at the market, where the fair takes place."  
Alma sighed. Finding a person at a busy fair was not going to be easy. "Alright. Thanks!"

She exited the building, and evaluated her options. She planned to stop by the market before going to face the gym leader anyway, and she didn't have much to do there, so her best bet was probably going there and killing two birds with one stone.

The fair was colorful and lively, full of stands and all kinds of fair games. Some places had a pretty long queue, but Alma didn't have much interest in them, such as a merchant selling incenses at high prices. However, there was one place that caught her eye: a stand selling evolution stones. She rushed there and managed to snatch a Water Stone before it sold out.

"Yes! I'll finally be able to evolve Arin!" She put it in her bag, planning to use it later. She was pretty happy with her purchase, but she still couldn't find gym leader Daku.  
She looked around some more and, just as she was about to give up, she saw him hanging out with Ryo at a stall. They were laughing together and seemingly having a good time.

She hesitated for a bit, waiting for the conversation to quiet down, then decided to take a step forward and go talk to them. "Hello, Ryo! And... you're gym leader Daku, right?" The young man looked at her as Ryo greeted her with a nod. He had brown locks and intense caramel eyes that Alma was pretty sure she had already seen somewhere.

Daku smiled at her. "Yes, I am! And you are?" "I'm Alma, a pleasure to meet you. I'm a challenger." "Oh, so you came to try your hand at the gym challenge! That's unfortunate. You really picked a bad time. I'm busy with the fair, you know, being the organizer and all." Daku seemed genuinely troubled. "I gotta make it up to you somehow! It would be such a jerk move from me to tell you "no, shoo, come another time"! I know how passionate a trainer's resolve truly is!"

Alma chuckled, embarassed. "It's fine, really! I don't mind. I can come when-" "I KNOW! What about we schedule our encounter now and then you come and hang out with me and Ryo? My company should be enough of a compensation!" The girl was startled by Daku's enthusiasm, while the other gym leader didn't even seem phazed.

"Me? Checking out the fair with both of you? Are you sure I won't be a nuisance?" The ground type gym leader laughed, as if it was the craziest thing he had ever heard. "You're a riot! You won't be a nuisance at all. The more, the merrier! Right, Ryo?" Ryo shrugged. "I don't mind." "Then it's decided! Come along, we'll have lots of fun together!"

Still a bit woozy, Alma followed suit. Ryo gave her a sympathetic look. "Don't worry, he'll simmer down eventually. He always does." "Ah... I was just really surprised. It all came out of the blue!" "Daku's an... interesting person, even among us gym leaders. Which is saying a lot, considering I'm in the picture."  
Was that... a joke? Alma blinked slowly, trying to decipher his words. "I see! Well, he seems like a good person." "Yep. He is." Ryo confirmed.

Daku turned to look at Alma. "So, when would you like to face me? Is tomorrow a good time?" "Tomorrow! You're free so soon?" The gym leader shrugged. "Sure. My matches aren't that long anyway." "Uh, is that a good sign or a bad sign?" Daku's smile turned devilish. "I don't know. Ryo, do you know something about it?"  
Ryo chuckled. "Don't drag me into this. We're not allowed to give any hints to challengers anyway." Alma looked at both of them. "I somehow feel like you both know something I don't."

Daku laughed. "You'll find out soon enough. Sooo is tomorrow ok?" "Sure, could we do it in the afternoon though? I wanted to check out the Cold Storage, I heard it's a nice place to train." "Sure is. The people there are always itching for a fight. You'll fit in just fine if you want to battle." Daku clapped. "It's decided, then! Man, this is hype. I can't wait to bring the heat tomorrow."

Alma found the gym leader's enthusiasm to be endearing, if not slightly overwhelming. He seemed like the kind of guy to get excited about pretty much everything, even if he looked slightly older than both her and Ryo. He wondered how old he was, but decided not to ask.

They toured the fair for a while. At times, Daku was called over by people asking for favors, clarifications or simply saying hi, and he disappeared for a little while, leaving Alma alone with Ryo, but it wasn't all that bad.  
The dark gym leader's calm, cool demeanor was a nice counterbalance to the other one's fiery personality, and even though at times there were silent spaces between their conversations, it didn't feel awkward.

"So you were born in Icirrus City?" she asked Ryo while they were walking aimlessly around, waiting for Daku to reappear. "Yes. I've been living there all my life, and even though I did go on my own Pokémon journey once I reached the age of twelve, I came back as soon as I was mature enough to take on the gym leader mantle."

"Your father was a gym leader as well?" "Yes, but he's been having some health problems in recent years, so I decided to step in in his stead." "I'm sorry to hear that! Hope he's doing better." Ryo shrugged. "He's a strong man, he'll pull through. He's stabilized in these last months, but since I've been doing just fine he let me keep my job and decided to rest and care for mom and the rest of the family, working as a writer."

Alma nodded. "I see. Well, you seem like a really mature and responsible person." He looked at her. "Flattering me won't get you any bonuses in your gym challenge, you know." "I-I wasn't trying to-" she stammered. "Relax. I was just teasing." he chuckled. "I know you weren't. And thanks. I do my best."

At one point, they walked near a stall hosting a ring-toss game, with some extra large plushies as top prizes. Alma spotted a really adorable Woobat plushie, and slowly tugged on Ryo's jacket. "Oh my god." "What's wrong?" he asked her. "That's the most adorable plushie I've ever seen." "That Woobat one?" "Yes." The young girl sighed, dejected. "Shame I've never been that good at fair games..."  
She looked at Ryo with puppy eyes, and he stiffened. "Uh, why do I feel pressured into doing something, somehow?" Daku swooped in, seemingly from out of nowhere. "Oh! Such a fair maiden in distress! Why don't you drop the cool act and save her?" "S-Save her? Daku, what are you talking abo-"

Daku imitated Ryo's voice, in a brooding cold tone that was supposed to be a parody of his serious tone. "I must save all maidens in distress, for I am the gym leader that works for the people. I am also extremely good at fair games, and am just playing it cool." "Wha- Do not put words in my mouth! I never said that!" Seeing Ryo be so flustered was a surprise to Alma, but she saw it as an opportunity to strike.

"Pleeeease, Ryo?" He sighed. "Why do I feel more and more like I am babysitting two children?" He walked up to the stall owner, putting some money on the table. "One ticket, please. I'll be playing." "Sure, here you go. Are you familiar with ring-toss?" "Oh, am I!"  
Ryo's expression suddenly turned extremely competitive. "Alright, let's do this."

Saying Ryo was good at that was an understatement. He knew exactly where to aim, how to stabilize the ring during the throw, and frankly knocked it out of the park. The stall owner's eyes widened. "Well, I'll say! I haven't seen a score this good in a very long while! I'd say you can get whatever prize you want, young man."

"I'll get the Woobat plushie, thank you very much." "Here you go, then." He took the prize and then handed it to Alma with a smile. "Here." "Oh my god. It's so soft and fluffy. Oh my god." She rubbed the plushie against her face, and felt like she had just found the recipe for instant happiness. "Oh my god." she whispered, unable to process any other words.

When she looked up, Ryo was looking at her with a warm smile on his face. As soon as he realized she saw him, though, he looked away and cleared his throat. "Ahem. I hope you're happy with your prize." "Oh, am I!" she said, imitating him. The gym leader looked a bit annoyed, but scoffed with a half smile.  
"Stop it." "You were just playing it cool, you sly fox." Alma poked him. Daku clapped. "Well, that's our Ryo. He used to really love fairs when he was younger, and he basically learned and practiced all techniques to maximize his winning chances." Ryo chuckled. "It's the surefire way to get all the cool Absol and Umbreon plushies."

Alma put her hands together with a smile. "So you are a big plush loving softie too!" "Agh... why do all of you keep putting words in my mouth?" "I mean... you just admitted to liking them, though." Ryo blushed slightly and turned the other way. "I said stop!" Daku laughed and patted his back. "Hey, hey, your cool act's over. You can stop pretending now. We all have our weaknesses."

The dark type gym leader turned towards him, annoyed. "Oh, yeah? Do you enjoy being pestered like this? Should I tell her about the whipped cream incident, or the great ice cream disaster?" Daku's face turned red with embarassment. "No! No! Please don't! I yield!" "Come here, you little piece of-"

While Ryo ruffled Daku's hair and they playfully jabbed at each other, a warm feeling spread in Alma's chest.  
This fair... far away from drama and danger, with such lovely company...  
'It's been a while since I've been so happy.'

They hung out together for a little while longer, the relaxed and playful atmosphere never leaving them. Once it was time to go, Alma was a bit saddened.  
"Everything's closing down. I guess it's time to go." "Yeah, the fair's almost over." Ryo commented. Daku looked around, then looked at Alma with a big smile. "I regret nothing. It's been a while since I've had this much fun! You've been wonderful." She smiled back, a bit flustered. "Thanks! Likewise. You were both great company." "Say, why don't we exchange numbers? Next time we hang out we'll call you too." the ground gym leader proposed.

Alma was surprised to say the least. "Really? You'd do that?" "Of course! It's fine if you don't want to, though." "No, no, it's fine! I was just a bit surprised, that's all."  
Ryo chuckled. "That's a nice idea, actually. Let's all register each other." They all exchanged contacts, then Daku put away his Xtransceiver. "Alma, I'll be waiting for you at the gym tomorrow, yeah?" Ryo waved at her. "Good luck. You'll be taking on a tough opponent, so give it your best."

"Thanks! I will. Let's both do our best." Alma left, and Daku turned towards Ryo with a sly grin. "Looks like you made an impression on her." "What?" "Come on, don't act coy. You saw how she looked at you the entire time." Ryo scoffed. "Don't say such silly things." "Still as stubborn as ever, eh? Well, anyway, she's going to forget all about how dreamy you are once you absolutely destroy her when she faces you."

Ryo shook his head. "Look who's talking. If she's not prepared for your team, she'll get wiped by you as well." "True. We've both claimed our fair amount of victims." The dark type gym leader smiled. "Yes, but she's got a certain spark. I believe she won't give up that easily." "Perhaps..."

Daku's eyes turned to the fair. "I've missed this event. I haven't been able to enjoy myself lately, with the terrorists running around and having to keep that in check while managing the gym. You're lucky to live in Icirrus, nothing happens there." Ryo shrugged, putting his arms behind his head.  
"I've had to help out as well, but I understand your point. Hopefully we can return to our normal lives without all this extra security soon enough." "I hope so, friend. I hope so."

Daku's frown turned into a grin. "Now come on. Let's enjoy ourselves a bit more before the day is over. What do you say about grabbing some drinks?" "Now you're talking my language. Lead the way. Be careful not to drink too much, or Alma's gonna wipe you tomorrow." Ryo winked at him and Daku gave him a playful push. "That was uncalled for!" The dark type gym leader protested. "That was totally called for."

Laughing and joking around, the two disappeared in the crowd.

* * *

The day of the gym challenge came, and Alma felt pretty confident. Daku's assertion that he tended to have "quick battles" scared her slightly, but with a team that had a good amount of heavy hitters against the ground type like hers, she had a nice feeling about it.  
Of course, before the battle, she had evolved Arin with the Water Stone she had gotten at the market, and while training in the Cold Storage, Samson had finally evolved into Scrafty, giving her a leg up in the incoming fight.

Once she entered the gym, though, she was surprised to see a familiar face. "Duma?" They turned, and sure enough, their eyes lit up with surprise and glee after recognizing Alma. "Well, well! If it isn't Alma! How are you?" "I'm good, thanks! What about you? What brings you to Driftveil?" "Well, I wanted to visit my brother."  
Alma's eyes lit up with the realization. "Wait... your brother is..." She couldn't finish the sentence - Daku dashed out the door and tackled Duma with a hug that she was surprised didn't send them flying face first into the ground.

"SIB! What a good time to be alive!" Daku laughed. "Bro... you're choking me." "Oh, sorry, sorry." The gym leader backed off, and only then did he seem to register Alma's presence. "Oh, hi! You came too! Sorry, I wasn't expecting my sibling to come visit me at this time." "So you and Duma are siblings?" "Yep! Even if they just went poof like that, they're still my family."

The girl felt stupid for not seeing it earlier - they had the same caramel eyes, and probably more physical attributes in common. However, with Duma still wearing their desert robes, it was difficult to tell. "I didn't just "go poof". It was a difficult and very important decision-" Duma specified, but was interrupted by Daku. "Yeah, I know, sib, just teasing. Alma, what are you waiting for? Come on in! We have a fight scheduled!" "Oh, sure! Coming!"

While she entered the arena, Duma winked at her. "Good luck. He likes you, but he's not going to go easy on you."  
The battle arena was very spacious. It was completely covered in sand, and Alma recognized immediately patches of darker sand similar to those of the Desert Resort. "Our battle arena's theme is quicksand! You'll have to be quick on your feet and move constantly, or the sand is going to suck you in! If you stay still for too long, your Pokémon are going to get gobbled up and die!"

Alma raised an eyebrow as Daku scoffed. "Fine, they're not going to die. I said that for dramatic effect. They're simply going to be greatly crippled in their movements and then immobilized if they don't manage to break out. It's a 3v3, only the challenger can switch Pokémon. Got it?"  
"Yes. I'm ready!" "That's great! Let's fight!"

The assistant from the day before, that doubled as referee, came running on the stage and declared the start of the battle. "Go, Hazel!" Daku sent out a chubby female Hippowdon, as Alma sent out her newly evolved Simipour.  
Hippowdon's ability, Sand Stream, unleashed a sandstorm, and Alma immediately realized she was dealing with a sand team.

Nicky still had Sunny Day just in case, but not knowing what Daku's team was, she didn't want to lead with her and preferred the safer favorable type matchup. "Arin, use Scald!" "Stealth Rock!" Simipour immediately went on the offensive, hitting the bulky hippo with a powerful Scald that also burned her, as the ground type Pokémon set up the entry hazard and the water type took damage from sandstorm.

However, standing almost still while using Scald, she realized that Arin was already beginning to sink into the quicksand. "Arin, never stand still! Keep moving!" The Simipour nodded and managed to break free, using another Scald to further cripple the Hippowdon as she countered with Earthquake.  
Fortunately, since her opponent was burned, she didn't take that much damage, and a last Scald finished the job.

She had managed to take down her first opponent while taking almost no damage - things were looking good, and Alma smiled. However, as Daku withdrew his Pokémon, she saw a devilish smile forming on his face. "Well, it's over." "What?"  
He sent out an Excadrill, and Alma had never seen a more mean-looking ground type. "Arin, Scald!" she ordered. She had a bad feeling about this, and wanted to try to burn him.

"Caleb, avoid it, and go for Swords Dance!" Alma's eyes widened as Excadrill moved at an incredible speed, completely avoiding Scald's damage and setting up in her face. "Wait... what?" "Sand Rush. Excadrill's speed doubles in the sand. As for his attack, well..." While Arin had to basically keep moving and was slowed down by the sand, Excadrill moved at a blinding speed, hitting her with Earthquake and oneshotting her clean.

"Holy... ok. Good job, Arin. Come back." she recalled her Pokémon, and sent out Watchog, praying she could stay alive long enough to remove the sand. Seeing as the normal type had already taken damage from Stealth Rocks, it wasn't looking good. "Nicky, Sunny Day!" "Earthquake!" It was no use: Nicky was oneshot as well, being KO'd before she could even remove the sand.

"Oh man, this really is over." Alma sent out her last Pokémon, Zeph, praying that by some miracle he survived... but no, a Rock Slide sent the Sigilyph packing, and the match ended in a clean 2-0 sweep.  
"... Wow, ok. That was something." the trainer sighed, recalling her last Pokémon. Daku recalled his Excadrill as well, and jogged up to Alma.

"Sorry about that, but I need to give you trainers a tough time so you can grow." Alma took a deep breath and nodded. "I know, I know. I just... well, I wasn't expecting the match to be so, uhm, not close at all." Daku patted her shoulder. "You learn more from defeat than you do from victory, as they say. I got completely crushed more times than I could count, and grew pretty strong. You've got guts, so you'll overcome this hurdle no problem."

Alma finally managed to smile. "Thanks, Daku. You're right. I need to work harder." "That's the spirit! Come challenge me whenever. You've got my number, so you don't even need to worry about schedule. See ya, Alma! I'll catch up with Duma now."  
As Alma headed out to Route 6 after healing her Pokémon to train and devise a new strategy to beat the ground type gym leader, she had a lot on her mind.

That was her first loss to a gym leader, and it was because she was not prepared to face his team. She wondered whether she should switch up her Pokémon. Her moves needed fixing, for sure - super effective moves weren't going to cut it anymore, she needed another strategy. From that point on, she had the impression she couldn't just power through gyms anymore.

She recalled Tom's words about the gyms becoming progressively more difficult as time went on, and she realized how true that statement was. Trick Room, hail, hyperoffense, defense and a bit of set up moves... those were all perfectly valid teams, but the further she journeyed the more movesets, abilities and synergies took the place of pure stats and raw attack power.

While walking through Route 6, she saw a Pokéball lying on the ground. She was about to pick it up, when it started shaking and releasing spores. Alma immediately backed away, coughing. "Jeez! What the heck are you?" The Pokéball revealed itself to be a Pokémon, that the Pokédex identified as Foongus.  
"Fuh!" The Pokémon seemed particularly proud of his surprise attack, and lunged at Alma as she quickly sent Nicky in to defend herself.

"Nicky, Flamethrower!" Foongus immediately regretted his actions when he was hit by the fire type move, and attempted to escape in the woods, but Alma threw a Pokéball at him and caught him. She recalled Nicky and lost her balance, falling on the grass. "Oof... those spores..." she groaned, suddenly feeling a powerful headache.

"Hey, are you alright?" Alma raised her head and saw Duma looking at her curiously. "Oh... yeah. I was just hit by some Foongus' spores and now my head hurts like hell." "Ah, yeah. Those can be nasty. Luckily for you, I have some medicine with me." "You do? Thanks, Duma. I swear, I'm going to owe you so many favors by the time I'm done with this journey."

Duma chuckled and gave her the medicine. "No biggie. When I was little I kept running into those and got some pretty nasty headaches due to their spores. They're not usually that aggressive, though. They got scared easily when I got out my Pokémon to battle."  
Alma took the medicine and rested for a few minutes. "Thanks. I'm already feeling better." "No problem. How are you holding up? My brother told me what happened."

Alma sighed. "Well... I'm not sure how to feel about it. I think I underestimated the challenge and rushed in unprepared, and it showed. I got to thinking about countering sand, which matchup would be the most favorable upon switching in and calculating if my lead would fare well against his other Pokémon too..." Duma nodded. "That's good. It signals your growth as a Trainer."  
"How would you face this challenge, Duma? Ah - I'm not asking you to give away your brother's secrets. I'm just asking, if a fight seems difficult and you get defeated, how would you approach and assess it?"

Duma shrugged. "I guess I'd try to identify and negate my opponent's win conditions and capitalize on my strengths, doing my best to cover my weaknesses. Having a fixed team of six is not always the best way to go - if the team's unbalanced, has too many weaknesses, or gets countered by a specific opponent, it's always a good idea to switch it up and try something new."  
They got up. "As I said, adaptability and evolving to be able to face new situations is key here. Thankfully, being human, we do that pretty well. If something brings us down, we get back up punching and kicking."

Alma chuckled. "Wow. I still have a lot to learn." "Don't beat yourself up over this. You're young and smart. You'll figure it out." they smiled and patted Alma's back. "I need to go now, but we'll see each other again for sure, especially now that you know my brother. See you around!"  
Alma waved at them and watched them go away, as she thought about what they said. 'Negating the opponent's win condition...' Aka, the sand. She had a starting point, and she could work from there.

"Alright. Time to grind. I need to be prepared the next time I face him, after all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was honestly one of my favorites to write, for multiple reasons. I really enjoy Driftveil's design and concept, and it was fun writing the interactions between characters. Anyway, if you made it here, thank you very much for your support! Hope you all have a nice day!


	10. Sand, sun, rain, and dark clouds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _As Miria is trying to figure out what to do next, she's contacted by Angela to conduct an investigation. Turns out the professor has a few leads on the terrorist case... and while that's unfolding, Alma needs to figure out a way to best Daku._

After losing to Alma, Miria trained for a while and then headed off to Driftveil Drawbridge. While watching the ocean thoughtfully, she received a call from Angela.  
"Hello?" she picked up. "Hi, Miria! Am I interrupting something?" "No, not really. I was about to head to Driftveil." "Do you have a few hours to spare?" "I think so, I'm not doing much anyway. Why?" "Well, I have a job from prof Leon, and I was wondering if you wanted to tag along. Of course, you'll be properly compensated."

Miria took a deep breath. "Sure, why not. What's the job?" "Well... we're going to investigate the ULG's recent activity in Nacrene. We need all the help we can get." "I see. Alright, I'll be there." "Great. I'm coming to pick you up with Sigilyph, if that's okay with you. Where are you?" Angela asked. "I'm standing on Driftveil Drawbridge, but I can make my way to Driftveil or Route 6 if you want to." "Alright. Go to Driftveil, I'll pick you up there."

After joining up with Angela, the girls reached Leon in Nacrene. The professor was pacing around with a worried look on his face. When he saw them, he smiled tiredly. "Girls! Thank god you arrived. I need some help with my investigation."  
"What happened, professor?" "Well, the lower floor of a building here in Nacrene was recently blown up, and upon checking, it seems that it used to be a ULG base."

"There was a ULG base in Nacrene?" Miria asked. "Yeah, it seems like there was a lot of underground activity, a lot of back and forth between secret bases here and in other locations as well. I couldn't find much evidence. It seems that they were afraid to be discovered, for one reason or another, so they blew the place up."  
The professor shook his head. "I'm going to need some help. I want to explore the lower floor and see what I can find, but I can't do this alone. Will you come with me?" "Of course!" Angela and Miria replied together.

They visited the building, which was an unassuming little market. It had been evacuated and deemed off limits, and was deemed as unstable and dangerous due to the explosion damaging the structural support. "It's going to be risky. I got a pair of Conkeldurrs from the lab who managed to stabilize it for now, but we don't have much time before it all comes crashing down. We need to gather as much evidence as we can, and then get out of here." Leon explained.

He handed them both a camera, and they slowly trudged towards the lower floor.  
The more they went down, the more devastation surrounded them - there were incinerated ULG posters, borderline undeciphrable maps showing the different locations in Unova, broken or straight out carbonized furniture, shattered Pokéballs...

"Man, this place gives me the creeps." Miria commented, an unpleasant feeling all over her body. "Tell me about it. Looks like an abandoned mansion without the fun aspect of it." Angela replied. "This... is a map of the Battle Company, isn't it? And this looks like an incinerated Driftveil market map... they've been planning a lot of things, apparently."

"Yet they went through only with one scheme. Was it because of the tightened security?" Miria asked. "That's part of the reason for sure. Having all people checked at entrances and exits of cities and town did a pretty good job of deterring those criminals from making a move. But I'm willing to bet another reason why they didn't act is due to the fact that they were organizing something bigger." Leon looked around, letting the devastation speak for itself.

"This is classified information, but you need to understand this if you want to comprehend the full scope of things. Promise you won't say anything to anyone." Leon said, turning serious. The girls nodded and he went on. "After the Castelia City disaster, the people the court case found incriminated or at least implicated were, in some cases, pretty important. Some of them ended up not even facing charges. This is not a simple terrorist organization. It's something darker, meaning to disrupt Unova's order, funded by a powerful entity that has yet to be discovered."

He shook his head. "I hate to think of the worst, but... the only person I could imagine having the sort of power to not only fund an entire terrorist organization, but also cover up her traces so effectively is Ester Auguste Laurent herself." Angela's eyes widened. "What? But why would Ester fund a terrorist organization?"  
Leon's eyes narrowed. "I don't know, but I can think of a few reasons. While I was investigating her as my suspicions started to manifest, I found out about some pretty shady deals she had been making. Let's say "under the table" kind of deals."

"Buying companies that held huge power in our economy such as the one making the Xtransceiver and most of the Pokéballs we buy, getting a hold of the medicine market... all those actions were the result of not only a cold, calculated business plan, but... let's say there was some weird stuff going on. I found some records of contracts or lawsuits against her to be straight out missing."

"And I got to thinking... why would a billionaire want to finance a terrorist organization? And it dawned on me. To cover up her own tracks, and distract the public with a bigger issue while maintaining a relatively clean public image. If that's her plan, I have to give her props, because it's working very, very well." Angela and Miria were both shocked.  
Angela shook her head. "Professor! Those are some very heavy accusations!" "Yes, and they are also accusations that would lead to me losing my life, were they to get out without concrete, overwhelming proof of the contrary."

Miria thought about it for a while. "It would make sense... it would explain the ULG's rise to power coinciding with Ester's most recent big business deals, and the fact that they seem to be pretty well armed for a rogue group. Plus, she was the one to fund most of the security and make Castelia City pretty much a dictatorship for a month, where no one could move if she didn't allow it."

Leon nodded. "Yes, but I can't just go out there and say 'Ester's a big bad villain' without losing my credibility, my career, and possibly my life. Plus, remember that it's still only a theory. A very plausible one, maybe, but I can't bet all my money on it without having clear proof of it being true."

The professor made his way into the deepest part of the destroyed building, closely followed by Miria and Angela. "I need to understand what are they trying to pull. If we can somehow get one step ahead... there was probably something here they were trying to hide. This is the deepest part of the building. If we can find some evidence... something, anything..."

They were met by a puzzling sight. Thousands of pieces of paper incinerated to the point of being unreadable, and at the center of it all, what seemed to be the remains of a device. It was probably the scattered remains of the bomb they had used to destroy the building.  
"This confirms the idea that they left in a hurry and blew up everything to hide the evidence. Someone probably grew suspicious of this place and they had to evacuate." Leon stated, cautiously examining the bomb from a distance.

Angela and Miria, meanwhile, picked the pieces of paper. "Come take a look at this... it's the same sentence, repeated over and over. "LIBERATE UNOVA! TAKE THE SKIES!" " Angela blinked, unsettled. "It looks like the ravings of a madman." "And this one... I believe it's some sort of coded language. Still, it's almost unreadable. Half the words are burned." Miria scoffed, looking at her surroundings.

They examined their surroundings for a long while, to no avail. The coded messages were all unreadable, except for the one Angela had found; even the walls were charred and gave no clues as to what was going on.  
Leon kicked one of the papers, frustrated. "This is a dead end. We went all the way down here for nothing." "... Huh? What's this?"

Miria picked up the remains of an Xtransceiver. She dusted it off and blinked slowly, confused. "It's... it's not the latest model. The size of the screen is all off." "Let me see." Leon checked it, and scoffed. "Wait, this is a prototype of the newest generation of Xtransceivers. Why would a terrorist have access to this?"  
"This might give some ground to your theory that Ester might be working with terrorists." Angela said thoughtfully. "And it would mean that they would be using untraceable devices to communicate, since they are still in a prototype stage. It would explain why no one has been able to trace down their positions or conversations."

Leon nodded slowly. "That's a very real possibility. I need to examine this. It's not a big lead, but it might help us understand what's going on. For now, I'll consider this mission not a total failure. Now, let's get out of here before everything collapses."  
The girls nodded and they all went back to the surface, with more question than answers.

Leon dismissed them soon after, paying them for their troubles and thanking them for their help. They left him to his research and headed to Route 3 to talk about what had just transpired.  
"Do you think Ester might be implicated in all of this?" Angela asked Miria in a whisper while they were sitting on the grass.

"At first, I couldn't believe it. I thought Leon must've lost a few marbles in there, but... thinking about it from a purely logical standpoint, it does make sense. Weird things have been happening in Unova in those last five years." she replied, fiddling with a blade of grass.  
"If that's the case, though... I have a really bad feeling about this. Frankly, I'm worried. And I've learned my mother has taken a sponsorship deal with Ester. A long term one."

Angela's eyes widened. "Cecilia has? But she's always been such a fan of "independent expression" and "finding your own way", hasn't she?" "Well, she's also a fan of "not losing popularity". If a deal with Ester was the best way to stay relevant, she would've taken that, 100%." Miria scoffed.  
"I see. I'm sorry." "Don't be. Me and mother are not even on speaking terms right now. I will find my own way, whether she likes it or not." Angela smiled. "You've grown, Miria." "Hardships do that to you, I guess."

Miria looked up at the sky. "Frankly, I don't regret starting this journey. Not one bit." She smiled sadly. "The only good thing my mother said to me was "stars shine the brightest when the sky is dark". I've been thinking about a lot of things, and that sentence has popped back in my mind again and again lately. I think it might be true."

"Well, at least she left you one good thing, then." Angela chuckled. Miria turned towards her. "What about your mother, Angela? You never told me about your past." "That's because most of my family is in Sinnoh. My mother and I moved to Nuvema when I was so small I couldn't even really remember it. We were living in poverty, so my family saved up some money so mom and I could move to Unova in hopes of having a brighter future there."

"So you're part of an immigrant family?" "Yeah. To be fair, I didn't have it too bad here. My mother found a job as a kindergarten teacher, and when I was old enough I went on my journey and managed to gather enough money to become independent. Once I finished my journey, I decided to stay behind and help the professor to thank him for the trust and resources he invested in me. He was the one to give me enough money for me to start my journey comfortably, since mom couldn't afford to yet."

"So you started from nothing and built yourself up. I started from everything... and now I need to figure it out." Miria commented. "Pretty much." Angela chuckled. "But I think you're already on the right path." she added. "Let's hope I am."

Miria rose up. "Alright, I need to focus. Fifth gym, here I come! See you later, Angela. Good luck with everything! And thanks for the chat."  
Angela smiled warmly at her, as she waved at her watching her leave. 'Well, she's a fighter for sure. I need to do my best as well.' she dusted herself off and left.

* * *

After a while of training, including Foongus having to play catch up with the rest of the team and eventually evolving into Amoonguss, Alma felt ready to try facing Daku again. She had devised a pretty interesting strategy - she just hoped it would be enough. After calling the gym leader and scheduling the rematch, she headed to the gym, ready to give it her all.

"So you came back! Can't say I'm surprised. Ready to face the sand?" Daku asked playfully. "I am, actually! Let's give it our all." "Oh, I sure will."  
The match began, and as Daku sent out Hippowdon. Alma started out with Sigilyph this time. "Oh, already switching it up. Nice!" Daku commented. "Heh. You haven't seen the last of it."

As Sand Stream whipped up a sandstorm, Sigilyph floated without a care in the world, unaffected by the sandstorm due to Magic Guard. "Zeph, use Reflect!" "Stealth Rock!" As the psychic type set up a physical screen, the field was littered with rocks.

"Hazel, Rock Slide!" Daku ordered. Hippowdon moved very slowly though and Zeph avoided easily before hitting back with Energy Ball. Without Earthquake, Hippowdon's very low speed made his attacks predictable.  
"Use Rock Slide, again!" "Rain Dance!" Alma countered. This time, Zeph was hit by the rock type move, but got reduced damage due to Reflect, and most importantly he cancelled the sand with the rain.

"Great job. Come back!" She withdrew Sigilyph - she couldn't risk Excadrill setting up on a Pokémon who could barely hurt him, so she sent out Arin. Despite taking damage from Rocks and from a following Earthquake, the Simipour retaliated with a rain-boosted Scald that knocked out the already weakened hippo. After that turn, the Reflect wore off, which was unfortunate, but it had done enough to keep Zeph and Arin healthy before the dreaded Excadrill. Fortunately, Arin had learned the lesson from last time and kept moving to avoid getting caught in the quicksand, even though the wet sand was looking more and more like a swamp.

'I'm in a way better situation from last time.' she thought. 'Now if he sends out Excadrill I'll be covered.' Unfortunately for her, Daku knew that too - he sent out his Seismitoad next.  
'Yeah, no, I'm not staying in on that. I do have Grass Knot on Arin, but I'm better off pulling the hard switch and keeping him healthy to face Excadrill.' Alma pondered. She withdrew Simipour and sent out her newly evolved Amoonguss. She had taken a little while to convince him that it was better to fill of spores the enemy and not her bag, but he had ended up relenting.

"Thames, Ice Beam!" The Seismitoad hit hard with the ice type move, and Amoonguss looked more than a little offended. "Vert, Giga Drain!" Thankfully, the grass type was bulky enough to tank a hit and immediately countered with the Grass type move, almost KO-ing Seismitoad and refilling his health in the process.  
Amoonguss, basically immobile, sank to his head pretty much instantly, negating any chance he ever had at moving. Fortunately, being an immobile mushroom, he didn't really need to.  
The rain wore off the following turn - Alma opted to reset it, so she would have the upper hand in the following matchup.

Unfortunately, that meant that Vert had to tank not one, but two Ice Beams - as he set the rain up again, Seismitoad hit him with Ice Beam and then quickly hit again the following turn, KO-ing the Amoonguss after getting a freeze on the first one.  
"That was unlucky, but you did great. You set up the conditions for victory." Alma smiled, recalling Amoonguss.  
"Hey, isn't it a bit too early to say you've won?" Daku chuckled. "I mean, you did it too last time." "True, true. I'll allow it this once. Come on, show me what you've got!"

With the rain set up, Arin ran up to his opponent and cleanly KOed him with Grass Knot. Daku withdrew his mon and sent out that Excadrill from hell. Thankfully, this time there was no sand, and with rain-boosted Scalds, Alma knew she would've had an easier time in a 1v1.

"Caleb, Earthquake!" "Scald!" Earthquake from Excadrill still hurt like a truck, Swords Dance or not - Arin managed to hang on only because she hadn't been damaged that much while facing Hippowdon. Scald hit as well, and it did a ton of damage. Earthquake shook the muddy ground and it would've sucked in the Simipour, but Alma noticed it in time.

"Break free before it traps you!" Arin managed to wiggle out before the quicksand devoured his feet, and as Excadrill tried to hit Earthquake again Alma had an idea. "Jump up in the air and use Scald!" "Rock Slide!" Alma's eyes widened as she realized Earthquake was just a setup, and the pile of rocks hit her Simipour. Before he could be buried into the sand, though, he managed to hit the second Scald and knocked Excadrill out, her opponent's poor defenses spelling his doom.

"Aw, man. First I knock you out clean and then you destroy me. Feels bad." Daku sighed. "Don't even joke about it. If Arin didn't hit that second Scald I would've lost" Alma stated, withdrawing her Simipour. "Perhaps, but you still played well. You deserved this victory. I'm just a sore loser." The trainer laughed. "Don't say that about yourself." "Well, anyway! Here's your Sand Badge and the TM for Earthquake, the most reliable and powerful ground type move. Use it well- ah, who am I kidding? They're reusable anyway."

He gave her the TM and the badge, and she smiled at him. "Thank you for the fight and the time at the fair. I had a blast." "Hey, it's no problem. Let's keep in touch, yeah?" "For sure. I think I'll train a bit more and head to Mistralton." "Nice! Good luck on your journey!" Daku waved at her. "Thanks!"

Alma exited the gym, feeling drained after the fight. 'That was tough, even with preparations.' she thought. 'My next gym is going to be Flying type though, so maybe I can finally get to use Marble. Poor guy has been sitting out of most battles. Although... I'd need to evolve him first. Maybe I can ask Angela or Miria for help with that.'

She healed her Pokémon and headed out, towards Route 6. She had to get through Chargestone Cave before arriving to Mistralton, so she stocked up on Pokéballs and healing items plus a few Escape Ropes if things got iffy.  
After walking through Route 6, she finally arrived at the entrance of Chargestone Cave. Upon entering, she was immediately surprised by the cave's atmosphere. It felt borderline surreal, with its widespread blue glow and seemingly magical floating rocks.

"Whoa." Alma touched one of the rocks, out of curiousity, and it moved towards a bigger blue rock. "WHOA." She knew in the back of her mind it had to be some sort of magnetic phenomenon, but her eager mind could only think "magic".  
She toured the cave, facing some trainers on her way, and once she got to the halfway point she encountered a very interesting Pokémon floating around.

It was a Klink, Klang's pre evolution. Having faced a Klang in her gym challenge before, she knew Klink's steel typing and electric coverage could prove to be pretty useful in the flying type gym battle to come, so she decided to catch it. The floating gear was minding its own business and doing a great job at it before getting a Quick Ball thrown at him.  
One, two, three... the Klink was caught, and Alma smiled as she took the Pokéball with her. "That was a pretty lucky catch! This cave is full of nice surprises."

After roaming around for a good while, she managed to find the exit of the cave, and after the routine security checks she finally arrived in Mistralton City.  
The first thing that caught her attention was the cold. It was noticeably colder than in Driftveil, and she was suddenly acutely aware of how underdressed she was. Fortunately, she had a jacket and a change of clothes in her bag, but she probably needed to buy some warmer clothes for Icirrus. She suddenly understood why Ryo always seemed to stroll around in pretty heavy jackets.

The second thing she saw was the airport. It was pretty massive and hard to miss, to be fair. Mistralton was where all the aircrafts and carriers moved in and out of Unova. Just as she was about to move on, she was startled by a loud noise. As she looked up, an airplane was passing by and making preparations for landing. 'Oh, dam. They do make a lot of noise. Not envying the folks living nearby right now...' she thought.

There weren't any other notable landmarks, so she headed to the Pokémon Center to heal after her trek through Chargestone Cave. While waiting for the nurse to give back her Pokémon, she received a call on the Xtransceiver and picked up. "Hello?" "Hi, Alma!" She immediately recognized Daku's enthusiastic voice. "Are you near Mistralton?" "Well... I am in Mistralton- thanks, nurse! Why?"

"I was thinking about hanging out! Duma's going to leave for the desert soon, so we were thinking about throwing them a small party to send them off with a smile, you know?" "A small party? When?" "It'd be tomorrow in the early afternoon, if you're up for it."  
Alma thought about it for a bit. That sounded like fun. "Sure, why not?" "Great! Ryo's coming too, it's going to be a blast. If three's a crowd, four's a riot!" the gym leader replied. "Uh, Daku, I'm not sure that's the correct expression-" "See ya tomorrow at two at the Swanna Cafè! Have a wonderful day! Bye!"

As the call was cut off, Alma couldn't help but smile. The gym leader was as energetic as always, but she didn't mind hanging out with them. Duma and Ryo both had a very calming presence that balanced Daku's pretty well.  
Plus, she was curious to see them in a more casual setting. It was her first official invite to hang out with what were basically celebrities, wasn't it?

"Oh man, I have to look my best!" she decided. "Tomorrow's already shaping up to be a great day, I can feel it!"  
With renewed enthusiasm, she went to see where the fabled "Swanna Cafè" was, and judging from the exterior and from her sneaking a peek to the main hall inside, it seemed to be a pretty fancy place, without looking sumptous, which was good. She would've felt a bit out of place in a very high end bar.

After checking out the gym and asking for the gym leader, Dimitri, she was informed that the gym leader was rarely free, due to him also being busy with the city's flight school. She managed to schedule an appointment the following week before leaving, deciding to take her time to rest and leave the training to another day.

Little did she know her stay in Mistralton would've become anything but uneventful...


	11. So long, desert traveller

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Hanging out with her friends is a nice change of pace for Alma, waiting for her gym challenge in Mistralton City. As she uncovers more about Ryo's past and the Daku and Duma's lives, though, the peace is interrupted once again by another terrorist attack._

At exactly one fourty pm the following day, Alma had finished putting on some light makeup, dressed in a more fitting way for Mistralton's cool weather and was ready to take on the world. Somehow, she felt more anxious and sizzling with anticipation for the event than she was about a gym challenge - maybe because it didn't feel as familiar.

She was wearing a light blue fur jacket with a pink long-sleeved shirt underneath, white pants and lilac shoes, coupled with golden heart earrings and a matching necklace. She looked like someone coming out of a pastel phase, but she didn't mind it too much - as a matter of fact, she quite liked it. It made her feel warm and fuzzy.

After checking herself in the mirror and determining she did in fact look cute, she headed out and walked to Swanna Cafè, where she found Ryo, Daku and Duma talking excitedly. "Hello there" she greeted them, and they turned to see her. "Hi! You're here, how fun! We can begin!" The ground type gym leader exclaimed, as Duma greeted her with a wave.

Daku was dressed pretty casually, even if his gray jacket was a little heavier due to the city's climate; Duma was still very covered up, and though she could see locks of their brown hair peeking out of their hat, they were still wearing pretty heavy clothes which didn't show much of their body. Ryo, on the other hand, donned a black jacket and black leather pants, with silver spiked earrings to match.

"Man, I stick out like a sore thumb." The dark gym leader chuckled. "Well, you kinda dressed like you came straight out of a motorcycling event. Then again, that's your thing." Daku teased him. "Oh, shush. I can make fun of my fashion sense, but you can't." Ryo retorted. Then, he looked at Alma and smiled. "Anyway, hi! You look good."  
"Oh! Thanks, you too!" she replied with a slight blush.

"Shall we get going, then?" Duma motioned to the open cafè, and they all went inside. A waitress walked up to them to greet them. "Hi! Welcome to Cafè Swanna." "Hello! We've booked a table for four, under the name Kaliev?" "Sure, I'll show you the table."

They were accompanied to a white table on the northern side of the cafè, and they all sat down, putting away their jackets since it was so warm inside. Duma seemed impervious to the change of weather, but she saw Ryo had on a dark red v-neck shirt and Daku... well, he had a really cute Meowth t-shirt.

"You like cats?" she asked him with a smile. "I love cats! I'd be the cat gym leader if I could. Unfortunately, ground types and cats don't mesh all that well." Daku replied, shaking his head. "Man, you're such a softie." Duma smiled, poking him playfully. "Well, you really like sand crocodiles, so don't judge." "I mean, have you seen how cute Sandiles are when they yawn?" "Yes, you only showed me at least 300 Sandiles yawning compilations." Daku scoffed. Duma pouted. "We can agree to disagree, but I find Sandiles to be much cuter than Meowths."

In the middle of the sibling debate, Ryo and Alma looked at each other. "Well, they're going to go on for a while. Shall we decide what to get in the meantime?" he asked her. "Sure. Let me check the menu." There were a lot of choices, both for drinks and food - in fact, maybe too many. Alma had no idea what to get.  
"Man, they all look so good! Care to give me some recommendations?" she pleaded. "Well, their cakes are amazing, but if you don't want to eat right away, I'd suggest their teas. I really like vanilla tea, but their rose and blueberry teas are amazing as well."

"I guess I'll get a rose tea then. Thanks." "You're welcome- oh!" Ryo looked up and Alma felt a hand on her shoulder. "Hanging out with VIPs and not telling me, huh? I thought we were best friends." A familiar voice chuckled. She turned and saw Angela and Miria behind her.  
"Girls! I didn't know you would be here as well!" Daku and Duma, alerted by the new voices, stopped arguing and looked up as well.

"Hey, Angela! Miria! Good to see you." Daku smiled and waved. "Good to see you too." Angela replied. "Hi, Alma. Good to see you're doing well. And... hi, Daku." Miria greeted them. "Friends of yours?" Duma asked, both to Daku and Alma. "Yeah. We're friends travelling through Unima together." Alma replied. "And those lovely ladies defeated me at the gym." Daku added.

Ryo looked at his friend with a chuckle. "You're going soft, aren't you?" "Shut up. I hope Alma absolutely destroys you at the gym." the ground gym leader mumbled. "Well, we're going to leave you to it. Have a nice time, folks!" Angela waved at them. "You too! Bye!" As the girls sat to their table, the waitress arrived to take their orders.

"Should I give you more time, or have you made up your mind?" she asked. "We're good! For me, a blueberry cake and a green tea." Daku replied. "For me, two chocolate muffins and a rose tea." Duma went on. "I'll have a vanilla cake and vanilla tea, thanks." Ryo said. "Uh, trend alert? Someone here really likes vanilla." Alma joked. "Anyway, I'll have a rose tea and a chocolate cake, thanks."

As the waitress nodded and went away, Alma turned to look at Ryo. "What a surprise. The edgy dark type gym leader getting the more vanilla order." Ryo rolled his eyes. "Please never call me edgy again. Also, I really like sweet things. Do you have a problem with that?" "None whatsoever." Alma smiled, looking at her menu to avoid his gaze.

"So, Duma, what are your plans this time?" Ryo asked them, as they fiddled with the cafè's tissues in an attempt to make an origami paper crane. "Well, I'm going back to my roots, but it's because I've heard rumors about some new ruins emerging after a particularly strong sandstorm, and I really want to explore them." "Ah, I think I've heard about them on TV. But you will be coming back soon, right?" "Of course. I can't leave the Pokémon League unattended, after all."

"Wait... the Pokémon League? You work there?" Alma was puzzled. Ryo and Daku both looked at her weird, and Duma chuckled. "Oh, you didn't know. Well, it's going to be a surprise, then." "Come on! You can't drop something like that on me and not explain it." Alma protested. "They can, actually. And they will." Daku smirked. "Don't worry, you'll find out at the end of your journey." Duma smiled.

The orders arrived soon after and everyone started digging in. "Man, these cakes are really amazing!" the young trainer commented. "Told ya" Ryo said. "They are the best of the best."  
After finishing their meal, they talked for a while before starting to get up.  
"Well, this sure is a sweet sendoff" Duma stated. "I couldn't have hoped for better company." "Aw. That's really sweet of you." Alma smiled. "I wish you all the best during your travels." "Thank you, Alma. Means a lot to me. But I have a feeling we'll all see each other again soon."

After waving at Duma and watching them go away, Ryo stretched. "Well, I guess I'll be going too. I need to go train a new catch of mine and run a few errands." "You're staying in Mistralton for a few days, aren't you?" Daku asked him. "Yeah, I'll be staying for three days. Afterwards, I'll go back to Icirrus."

They all headed for the exit, and Alma looked at Daku. "Thank you for inviting me. I had a great time." "We had a lot of fun too! Good luck with Dimitri. The old man's sturdy, but you'll manage." Daku smiled. "Old man? He's like thirty." Ryo chuckled. "Well, he acts like an old man." "Wow, rude. I sure hope you won't be calling me old man when I'll be his age." "No guarantees." Daku winked. "Well, see ya! I'll be going back to Driftveil."

After saying goodbye to both Daku and Ryo, Alma headed to her hotel and threw herself on the bed with a smile. 'That was great, but I need to get back to training.' She had to make Siegfried, her Klink, catch up with the rest of the team, and evolve it into Klinklang before the gym battle, so she had quite a lot to do.

She changed her clothes, grabbed her bag, and headed to Route 7 to train her Pokémon. After long hours of training with wild Pokémon and trainers alike, it finally evolved, first into Klang and then into Klinklang.  
With a very useful setup move in Shift Gear and packing some pretty hefty damage moves in Gear Grind and Wild Charge, she was sure it would've proved a very useful asset in the incoming fight against Dimitri.

She decided to call it a day after training for almost five hours, so she headed to the hotel, planning to explore Celestial Tower the following day.  
The next day, she woke up later than intended, but she still headed out to check out the tower.  
A respectful silence permeated the place, full of Pokémon graves. Many people were praying, putting down flowers for their loved ones, and she occasionally saw Elgyems and Litwicks hanging around.

One of said Litwicks stuck to her, shining a light that gave the place an eerie feeling. Alma suddenly started feeling a bit tired, so she grew suspicious and checked her Pokédex for Litwick's entrance. "'Litwicks fuel their fire by leeching living beings' life force'? Jeez, I'm not telling you to go against your nature, little one, but at least ask first. Come here." She handed her a Pokéball, and the ghost type eyed her for a little before allowing herself to be caught.

Apparently, the promise of having more life energy was enough to convince the ghost type Pokémon, and Alma sighed in relief as she felt her forces return to her. 'That was pretty spooky, but hey, ghost and fire are good typings. I feel like she'll make a good addition to the team.'

After a few more sets of stairs, she felt closer and closer to the top, when she saw Ryo kneeling in front of a gravestone. He put some white flowers on it. "Hey, partner. I'm back." he said in hushed tones. "Sorry for not coming sooner. It's been a wild ride. I... I hope you're doing well up there."  
Alma was undecided whether to take a step forward or back, unsure how to handle what was clearly a very personal moment. She was stuck there, frozen in place, as Ryo continued.

"I know it's been quite a while... but it doesn't feel like it to me. It still hurts, but I try to do my best to move on. I owe it to you, and I owe it to Ran, who has been doing his best ever since you went away." He smiled sadly, with lucid eyes. "I don't know if you'll ever forgive me. I know you did it out of love, but I never got to say goodbye... and I never even got to say sorry."

He took a deep breath. "I really want to believe there's some sort of heaven up there, you know? Sometimes I swear I can almost feel you watching over me... I wish I could talk to you one more time, but alas, all I can do for now is cover your grave with flowers and pray."

Alma's breath caught in her chest and she felt her heart ache. She had never heard Ryo sound so broken and vulnerable like in that moment, and she attempted to go away, but he heard her footsteps and he sighed. "For how long are you going to stand there before addressing me?" "Ah... so you noticed."  
Ryo turned to look at her. His eyes didn't seem angry - merely sad. "You're not the definition of sneaky, you know."

He rose up. "Are you here to mourn someone too?" "No, actually. I just wanted to visit this place." Ryo shook his head. "Good, because it'd be a shame if any of your Pokémon died because of your foolish actions. I wouldn't want anyone to make my same mistake."  
Alma was almost afraid to ask, but she did so anyway. "Care to tell me what happened? It's fine if you don't want to." "It's fine. But I have a favor to ask of you as well. Come to the top of the tower, then I'll tell you what happened."

Alma nodded, and they went up together. Once they reached the top, Ryo sighed. "I was thirteen when it happened. I was barely at the half way point of my journey, and yet I was still a stupid, reckless kid. I felt on top of the world. I thought I could take on any obstacle. So I pushed my Pokémon and my own body to their extreme, in a foolish rush to become the best at everything I did."

He scoffed. "Turns out, I wasn't the best at being intelligent. It was a hot summer day, and I felt particularly adventurous. So much so that I decided to go to the deepest part of the Desert Resort to check out rumors of a dangerous rare Pokémon that had been sighted there. Me and my rival made this foolish bet of who would catch it first..."

He gritted his teeth. "I had no idea what I was facing, how strong the Pokémon was... anything. I just heard "rare Pokémon" and thought it'd be a fun challenge. I ventured into the desert, feeling confident, and strayed far off any path I had taken before. When I arrived to the rumored place, I realized just how underprepared I was."

"It emerged from the sand, roaring menacingly, and he was really angry. Possibly because I disturbed his slumber. He was the biggest Krookodile I've ever seen. One look into his eyes, and I was frozen in fear. I couldn't even run. He lunged at me, and my starter came out of the ball of his own accord. He... he was mauled right in front of my eyes. And then... Krookodile disappeared, never to be seen again. If he hadn't stepped in front of me, that was going to be my fate as well."

"I survived. My partner didn't. I got off easy, but my partner... my partner was gone. And it was due to my own stupidity. He died to protect me." his voice started cracking, and he took a deep breath before continuing. "From that day, I lost my will to train my Pokémon. I considered myself unworthy and fell into deep despair. My Zoroark, Ran, was the reason I managed to hang on. He was always there for me, despite also being my partner's closest friend. I guess we helped each other get through it."

"To this day, I still miss him, but I do my best to learn from my mistakes. And I swore I would never endanger my Pokémon like that ever again." He turned to look at her. "And I wouldn't want anyone else to be in that situation either." Alma lowered her gaze. "That's why you told me off in Castelia."  
He nodded, slowly. "Yes. Mistakes are part of your journey to become a better trainer and person, but no mistake should cost the life of an innocent."

He pointed at the bell standing on top of the tower. "Try ringing it." She obeyed, and as she rang the bell a pure, clear sound emanated from it. Alma felt her soul ring in unison with it, and she saw Ryo closing his eyes and smiling. "What a soothing sound. I'm sure he's hearing it as well."  
Alma's eyes became lucid. "Ryo... thanks for sharing your story with me." "It's no big deal. You know, Alma... I really do think he watches over me. And I'm really grateful for it. I just wish my time with him had been longer, but I need to move on and cherish the present and my present partners just as much."

Alma nodded. "I think I'll head back, now. I want to stock up on supplies and go train a new member of my team." "Right behind you. I need to get back to Mistralton as well."  
They backtracked to the tower's entrance and through Route 7 in relative silence, each lost in their own thoughts. However, as soon as they got close to Mistralton, they noticed a column of smoke coming out of the airport.

"What happened?" Alma asked, alarmed. "I have no idea, but let's hurry!"  
They rushed back and saw the airport destroyed as people got out, still coughing. The entire place reeked of smoke and fire, and firefighters were working to extinguish the fire as policemen pushed back against a crowd of people who had gathered out to see.

"A terrorist attack..." Alma whispered, covering her mouth. "Most likely." Ryo gritted his teeth. "If only I could've been here..." "You would've changed absolutely nothing." Alma turned to see a black haired man who had to be in his late fourties, looking at the devastation and writing something on a notebook. He had strikingly cold gray eyes hidden behind gold-rimmed glasses.  
"You don't know that, Nash. And why are you even here?" Ryo asked. "What a rude welcome, Ryo. I get that we don't talk as much anymore, but it doesn't give you the right to address me in such a cold way."

Ryo shook his head. "What even happened here?" "It was an... unfortunate incident. But don't worry, the police and the Laurents have it handled." Nash replied, adjusting his glasses. Alma looked at both of them, confused, and the man bowed his head at her. "How rude of me. My name's Nash. I'm Ester's financial advisor and Ryo's uncle." "Pleasure to meet you. Name's Alma." They shook hands, and Alma almost recoiled at how cold his hands were. His grip was strong but his handshake was brisk.

"So care to give me some more details? I'm still involved in the terrorist investigation, you know." Ryo stated, his tone a bit less cold but still accusatory. "I appreciate your... enthusiasm, but it's classified information. We're handling the situation here just fine." "You're kidding me. Are you saying I can't even know what's going on, even when I'm a gym leader?"

Nash adjusted his glasses again, eyeing Ryo. "No offense, my dear nephew, but you're seventeen, and as of now we're trying to limit damage, save victims and calculate the cost of this place's repairs. I don't think you could help with either of those." "I could at least help with saving people..." "Leave this to the professionals."  
Nash took a deep breath and his tone took on more of a sympathetic streak. "I know you want to help and save everyone. That's noble and admirable. But the best way you can help right now is let the adults do their job. You will all be informed once we're finished here. Please."

Ryo's shoulders slumped. "Fine." He went away and Alma went after him. "Hey... you okay?" "Not really." he sighed. "I get my uncle's point of view, really, I do. I just find it weird that this has been the most devastating attack so far and even as a gym leader I can do nothing to help my community. I feel so powerless." "Ryo..." "Forget it, I'm just venting at this point. I'll go get some water and cool down. Sorry to bother."  
He went away before she could stop him, and Alma winced as she looked at the devastated airport.

It was a bit weird that no one was allowed in. And as she looked more closely, she noticed that Nash seemed particularly agitated, as if something had gone horribly wrong. She couldn't hear what they were saying - they were too far away, and even if she had somehow managed to get closer, she would've been turned away by the guards at the entrance.  
'Things are getting weirder and weirder here... I wonder what's going to happen now.'

* * *

Ester's heel clicks echoed inside the almost empty basement as she briskly walked past empty beer bottles, stolen goods, and fake money. She knew exactly where he was, and she was very angry, even though from her cold, stone-faced expression it wasn't easy to tell.  
"Jacob. I know you're here. Show your sorry ass before I lose my patience." she ordered, standing right under the dim light coming from the ceiling.

Jacob Walker, the fourty years old leader of the ULG, slowly walked up to her, his uniform stained with oil and who knows what else. "Well, well, well! If it isn't our dearest investor, Ester Auguste Laurent!" he mockingly bowed to her, and she tilted her head. "What did any of that mean?" she asked coldly. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

She walked up to him. "You know what I mean. The airport attack. Your so called "secret base" in Nacrene City. You said nothing about all of that. Were you expecting me to just stand there and silently let you do whatever you wanted on my playground?"

Jacob shook his head. "I thought those fools evacuated Nacrene City." "They did. As soon as they sniffed something was off, they ran away and blew the whole place up as if that would've covered their traces. But I knew about that, Jacob, and I know about everything going on in Unova. The only reason I've allowed you clowns to roam free as much as I did was because you took attention away from what was happening to Unova's economy and allowed me to sell more military equipment for the increased security, and that benefit me quite a lot... for a while."

Jacob laughed, at first slowly then more hysterically. "Clowns? You're the clown. You thought you were in control the whole time, but we were carrying on our secret plans, recruiting more and more members in our quest to liberate Unova from pigs such as yourself and planning to ditch you and your dirty money as soon as we got powerful enough!" Ester's eyes narrowed. "Is that so?"  
She came closer, and even Jacob started sweating when he felt her anger emanating from every single pore of her body - but instead of heating up, the more she got angry the more the entire floor seemed to become cold and unsettling.

"Let it be known that your failures of members have used equipment with my name on it to blow up the airport. I had to step in as soon as possible to avoid people like, oh, I don't know, the gym leaders from poking their heads and discovering that I was implicated in any of your idiotic ventures and absolutely destroying my reputation."  
She took a deep breath, then she smiled, and Jacob got chills. "But I won't let you make any more silly mistakes. As a matter of fact, there won't be any more ULG to talk about, because I'm going to snuff you out here and now."

Jacob started trembling with rage. "Now you've made me angry! You're the one that will be snuffed out!" He reached for his knife and charged at her. Ester's expression didn't change as she used his own momentum against him to throw him to the ground and pin him against the floor. "W-What the..." "You're really a moron. Yours isn't even the first attempt on my life, but it sure is the most pathetic."  
She strengthened her grip and there was a horrible sound as Jacob felt his hands going limp as he screamed in pain.

He struggled like a trapped animal, but Ester had an iron grip and wouldn't let go. "You bitch! The ULG will never stop existing, because our ideals to take Unova for ourselves and destroy the central powers will live on!" He screamed in agony as she ground her heels against his back. "Do you ever know when to stop talking?" she asked, bored. "I have all the power to disband your little terrorist group and your stupid ideals will dim when faced against real life. See how they hold up then."

She took out a dagger, and looked at him with the same cold indifference of an unmoving statue. "Goodbye."  
After an agonizing shriek, the only sound heard was the water dripping from the pipes above. Ester looked up. "They should really fix these." she commented, before leaving the basement without looking back.

* * *

The airport "incident", as the news had called it, ended up delaying Alma's gym match despite being swept under the rug. The young trainer raised an eyebrow when she saw how little coverage it got - she understood it was probably to prevent widespread panic, but it still felt wrong, somehow. More people needed to know about it.

She tried to call Ryo again, but he didn't pick up. She wondered if everything was alright. Last time she heard from him, he had stormed off after his confrontation with his uncle. "This all feels so surreal. It doesn't even feel like Unova anymore." she sighed, laying on the bed. She felt really down, and she feared calling her mother and telling her about everything that had happened would've just made her more apprehensive.

'Who can I turn to?' she dialed Angela's number, and her friend picked up. "Hello?" "Hi, Angie. How are you doing?" "I'm fine, thanks. I'm in Nuvema, working on some undercover stuff." Alma furrowed her brow. "Undercover stuff?" Angela lowered her voice. "We're investigating the terrorist attack in Mistralton." "So you are working on it!" "Yes. The professor has an idea, but... since it's very risky and potentially dangerous, I can't tell you what it is until we're absolutely sure."

Alma rolled on the bed. "Sounds tough... I hope you and the prof will sort it out, then." "We will, but what about you? You were in Mistralton the day of the attack, right?" Angela asked her. "Yeah, I'm fine... Ryo was there too, but they didn't let anyone in." "Not even the gym leaders?" "Nope." "That's worrying."

She heard a faint beeping sound. "I'm so so sorry Alma, but can I call you back later? I'm a bit busy right now, I shouldn't even be taking this call but I wanted to check on you." "It's fine. Call me whenever. Bye!"  
Alma slumped on the bed. Hearing her friend's voice was nice, but she wasn't feeling much better... suddenly, her Xtransceiver rang and she jumped when she saw the contact name.

"Hello?" "Hi, Alma. Sorry for not picking up earlier. I... I'm in a bit of a pickle, right now." she relaxed hearing Ryo's voice, and she chuckled nervously. "You tell me. How have recent events impacted you?" "It's been a mess. Press conferences, strengthened security... people are hollering for a safer Unova, and pointing fingers at each other. Pointing fingers at us."

"What? How would all of you be responsible in any way for terrorists?" she asked him, bewildered. "We did fail to provide protection in Mistralton. I was out there minding my own business, everyone was just... you know. Hanging around. No one actually did something." "But... that's just cruel. You couldn't have done anything." "It's complicated. And it feels horrible." She heard him scoff, clearly troubled.

"People are losing faith in us. They require higher security standards. And Ester's happy to provide that." "Ester?" "Yes. She's been at the forefront of this whole... campaign. She's gained incredible favor and support by announcing even stricter security measures, and to her credit, the Mistralton airport is already being fixed and made operational, but..."

Ryo paused for a second before going on. "I have a really bad feeling about this. Plus, she's become so cold and distant lately. I feel like I can't even talk to her anymore." he sighed. "Agh, I'm sorry. I'm just dumping all of my problems on you when you're probably not feeling that well or secure either." "No, no, it's no problem, really. Want to meet up?" "I'd love to, but I have a meeting in like thirty minutes."

He took a moment to recompose himself. "Anyway, please be careful, Alma. This whole situation is really dangerous, and were Unova to fall into a state of unrest... well, Ester's managing to keep things balanced for now, but I fear it won't last for too long."  
She nodded slowly. "I will do my best to stay out of trouble." "Good. Oh god, the PR team is already here. Well, see you later." "Bye, take care." She hung up, feeling even worse than she did before.

"This is all a giant mess, isn't it?" She rolled up the sheets, and decided to take a nap to hopefully feel better the next day. There was no point in mulling it over and feeling sad all day. Resting was the better option.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! I've decided to slow down the pace of my updates since I haven't had much time to write lately. Anyway, hope you enjoy!


	12. Head up in the clouds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _After the chaos caused by the terrorist attack has subsided, Alma faces gym leader Dimitri to get her sixth badge in the city of Mistralton. While that's happening, Miria has an epiphany of her own._

Resting and training for a long while did make Alma's mood better, though she still felt a bit down by the time she had to face her gym challenge against Dimitri. She had trained Rouge, her Litwick, up to the rest of her team's strength, but she couldn't evolve it into Chandelure yet.

The same day of her gym challenge, she had asked Angela for help to evolve Boldore via trade - Angela had accepted to meet up, and they went upstairs to trade. "Hey, Alma. How are you feeling?" Angela asked her, patting her on the shoulder. "A bit better, thanks. I'm still feeling a little down. This adventure has been a rollercoaster. I didn't imagine it'd be this wild."

As they put their Pokémon on the machine to trade, Angela nodded understandingly. "Yeah, this hasn't been a good end of the year for trainers and Pokémon alike. Lots of stuff has been going down." "I just wish I could make sense of it. Unima has changed so much in these two months. And everyone tries to live as if that's not the case, but it just isn't true. Things are changing."

Angela's expression got serious. "That's true. I just hope the region can band together to face the terrorist threat. Pointing fingers at the gym leaders isn't going to fix anything." she shook her head. "I wish I could tell you more, but I can't. Not here, and not now. Just know that the professor is doing his best to ensure everyone's safety."  
Alma smiled. "That's reassuring. Oh - here he is!" Alma took out Marble, her newly evolved Gigalith, and marveled at his sheer size. He seemed just as scatterbrained as ever, though, immediately stomping to go watch the pretty lights on a pc screen. Alma sighed and recalled him.

"Anyway, thank you so much for your help." "No problem. Good luck on your gym challenge. And... be careful out there." "I will. See you." Angela left, and Alma took a deep breath before heading out, ready to face her opponent.  
After being delayed for another week, Alma had finally been scheduled to face Dimitri.

She talked to the assistant and she was informed that Dimitri would've arrived in ten minutes, which was fine by her since she was a little early anyway.  
The gym leader entered soon after, with his aviator suit still on. His golden hair peeked out of his hat, and he had stormy blue eyes, just like the sky above.  
"Sorry for the delay! I was occupied with some chores. You know, with the airport being repaired and all." he apologized to Alma.

"That's perfectly fine. Shall we begin?" "Of course, of course. The match will be a 3v3, and only the challenger can switch, so the rules are the same. Let me accompany you to the battle stage!" The battle stage was quite weird. There were enormous propellers underneath it, and it looked more like the inside of a plane rather than a battlefield.  
"Uh, what's up with those?" Alma asked, looking at the propellers. "Well, they're the whole gimmick of this battlefield! Here, everyone flies!" "... Excuse me, what?"

Dimitri quickly dialed up a code near the control panel, and a powerful air current blasted out of them, with the motors whirring wildly. Above the propellers, a sturdy but elastic support appeared, probably to catch any Pokémon should the system malfunction. "Holy cow! Is that even safe?" Alma asked, concerned. The air currents were so strong she could feel them from a pretty great distance. "Of course it is! It has been safely tested, and we have a safety net underneath anyway."

"Ok... but what does "everyone flies" even mean? Are our Pokémon going to be... suspended in the air for the entirety of the battle?" "Exactly! You catch on quickly, I see." "That still sounds dangerous, but... fine. Let's battle." If the gym had been up and running for five years, with no complaints or signs of malfunction, it meant that system was working pretty well.

Dimitri sent out his first Pokémon, Emolga, and she led with Marble. She wanted to set up rocks, but... were rocks even a possibility in that battlefield? They'd be blown away, wouldn't they? 'Well, no harm in trying. This thing isn't going to oneshot Marble anyway.' Speaking of him, saying that the Gigalith was uncomfortable in his newfound flight abilities would've been a huge understatement - he was straight out looking like he was floating on the Moon.

"You good there, pal?" Alma asked. Gigalith looked at her as if saying "do I look like I'm good?" but nodded nevertheless. "Alright, because you'll be crucial here. Start by setting rocks!" "Emma, Volt Switch!" As Emolga volt switched out, Marble set up rocks, that thankfully floated up instead of going all over the place, but with Volt Switch being faster Dimitri could send in his second Pokémon, Gliscor, without taking any damage.

Wanting to gauge how much damage Marble did to the Gliscor, she ordered him to use Stone Edge - however, she quickly realized that Gliscor's tankiness and him not being weak to Rock meant that he wasn't taking as much damage as intended. As a matter of fact, Gliscor ate up the Stone Edge and proceeded to Toxic him.  
"Oh, we're playing that game." Alma scoffed, withdrawing Marble before the matchup could swing too much in Dimitri's favor. She was pretty sure he had Roost too, so she needed to take him down as soon as possible.

"Go, Arin!" Considering Gliscor's weakness to Ice, the Simipour was her best bet to ever hope to break through his defenses. "Gerald, use Stone Edge!" Alma's eyes widened as Arin suffered a nasty hit on the switch, probably a critical. He wouldn't have been able to stomach much more.  
Plus, with him floating in the air and all, she wondered whether he would've even been able to hit his opponent - fortunately, the Simipour dispelled her fear by putting himself upright and managing to stand on the air by using the currents.

'Right, he's already accustomed to being in the air thanks to Acrobatics.' she thought. "Arin, Ice Beam!" "Gerald, U-Turn!" Arin managed to hit him before he went back to Dimitri. 'It's a U-Turn and Volt Switch based strategy... that means he'll gain momentum each turn if I don't counter him. He'll probably go into Emolga next, but thankfully I have Stealth Rock up.'  
If it wasn't for Stealth Rock, Alma would've probably been overwhelmed - thankfully, the entry hazards limited Dimitri's space for maneuverability.

As she had suspected, the gym leader went back into Emolga - despite taking a fair bit of damage from rocks, her opponent was still pretty healthy. 'I can either stay in and sack Arin to get a free switch or switch myself, but if I do he'll Volt Switch out and keep the momentum going.' Alma gritted her teeth. Marble had a good matchup against Emolga but a bad one against Gliscor, who still hadn't revealed his fourth move - she needed to think carefully about her next move.

In any case, staying in with Arin wasn't the best choice, so she recalled him and went into her Klinklang. After thinking about it, since Gliscor had revealed Toxic, U-Turn and Stone Edge, she didn't believe he had Earthquake too - and since all the Pokémon were basically floating in the air, he probably didn't have it for terrain reasons as well. Klinklang entered the field and wasn't bothered by the air currents, since he was floating anyway,

"Emma, Thunderbolt!" Klingklang was hit by Thunderbolt on the switch in, but its decent special defense and Emolga's mediocre special attack meant that it didn't take that much damage anyway. Predicting the Volt Switch, Alma decided to set up in his face. "Siegfried, Shift Gear!" "Volt Switch!" Reading the play correctly, Klinklang got a significant attack and speed boost as Dimitri went into Gliscor again.

Unfortunately for him, Gliscor got damaged by Stealth Rock, and having already been damaged by Ice Beam meant that a boosted hit from Klinklang would've knocked him out. Which was great for Alma, because with Gliscor out of the way Gigalith had a good matchup into Emolga and probably Dimitri's last Pokémon as well.  
"Siegfried, Gear Grind!" "Gerald, avoid it and Roost!" In a last ditch attempt to make Gliscor survive a bit more, Dimitri tried to heal, but the Steel type was really fast now and the boosted attack from the Klinklang hit hard and Gliscor was knocked out.

"Now you've done it" Dimitri sighed. "Well, no matter! I still have a hard hitter in the back!" He recalled Gliscor and sent out his next Pokémon - a tough looking Braviary. He took some damage due to rocks, but looked unbothered. Alma knew Siegfried could endure at least one hit due to his high defense, but she still needed to be careful.  
Her only electric physical move was Wild Charge, and that did a hefty amount of recoil damage. With the recoil plus the residual damage from Volt Switch, maybe he wouldn't have survived a heavy hit.

'Depends on which move he uses. Marble can probably clean up from here, though.' She decided to go for Wild Charge and hope for a KO after rocks damage. "Siegfried, use Wild Charge!" The Klinklang threw himself at his opponent at impressive speed, dealing a lot of damage, but not managing to cleanly KO. 'Jeez, just how bulky is that Braviary?' she thought. Taking a boosted supereffective move from a Klinklang after rocks was no small feat - and as Alma feared, due to the recoil from Wild Charge, the Braviary's counterattack with Superpower knocked Siegfried out.

However, her opponent was greatly weakened, and with Superpower lowering his attack and defense, she knew she could send in Arin to get a revenge KO. 'Arin loses to Emolga anyway, so might as well, plus this way Marble has a safe switch in without being weakened by Superpower.' "Amazing work, Siegfried. Come back!" she withdrew it and sent out her Simipour.  
"Baron, U-Turn!" "Ice Beam!" Arin was faster, and before the weakened Braviary could even come in to try and hit him, he got the KO.

"Good job, Baron. Come back." Dimitri knew it was over, but he fought till the end, and so he sent out Emolga. After damage from rocks, the Emolga was barely able to stand. "Emma, Thunderbolt!" This time, Simipour didn't manage to avoid the hit, and was KO'd. "Nicely done, Arin. Come back!" she recalled the Simipour and sent in Marble.

The Gigalith still really hated the whole flight thing, and wanted nothing more than going back to his Pokéball. "Marble, Stone Edge!" he immediately used the rock type move, but Emolga avoided it and hit him with Thunderbolt. Due to that damage and the residual poison damage, it could've turned out really badly - but no, Marble wanted out, and he wanted out at all costs.  
"Marble, close the match, fast! Rock Slide!" "Giiiig!" He used all of his remaining power to land a Rock Slide while Emolga was still in the air, surprising her and knocking her out.

"Well, good job! You beat me." Dimitri smiled. Alma really wanted to tell him how annoying the strategy he used was, forcing her to switch every two seconds, but she decided to be a good sport. "Thanks. You were quite tough yourself." 'Without the Stealth Rock damage, this was a loss, even with two supereffective and sturdy members. Jeez.' she thought.

"You're heading to Icirrus next, right?" he asked her, powering off the propellers. "Yeah. I'll be facing Ryo." "He's your seventh gym leader?" Dimitri smiled and shook his head. "Yikes. Good luck." he gave her the TM for U-Turn with the badge, and before Alma could ask him any further questions he headed to the control panel to fiddle with some settings as the assistant accompanied her out of the room.

As she headed out, she was surprised to see Ester in the waiting room. She waved at her and the woman waved back. "Hey, Alma. Good afternoon." Alma walked up to her. "Good day! Here to talk with Dimitri? Not that it's any of my business, but..." Ester nodded. "Yes, I am. I just came back from inspecting the airport." "I hope the repairs are going smoothly! These terrorists really did a number on it, huh..."

The woman's eyes turned cold. "Yes, but I trust they won't be a problem anymore." "Really? How can you be so sure?" Ester raised an eyebrow. "I know the ins and outs of Unova. Plus, with the recent security increase, there's no way they're getting anything past us." "Ah... true. Sorry for doubting you." She shook her head. "It's fine. How's the gym challenge? Did you beat Dimitri?" "Yes! Thanks for asking. I'm actually heading to face Ryo next." "Oh? You're going to Icirrus then?"

Alma nodded. "Yes. I can't wait, but they say Icirrus in winter is very cold, so I'm a bit worried about the weather... I'm not good with cold temperatures." Ester chuckled. "As an Icirrus born woman, I can only tell you to pack accordingly. Both Twist Mountain and the city will do a number on you if you're not prepared."  
"Really? Thanks a lot for the tips. I'm sure-" Ester's Xtransceiever rang, and she scoffed seeing the number.

"Sorry, I have to take this. Hello? Yes. Yes, it's almost done. I'm on my way. I need to talk to Dimitri and then I'll head there. Yes. Bye." Before she could properly wave or say goodbye, Ester was gone - Alma was a bit saddened, but for the first time she managed to speak normally to her, so she was pretty happy about that.  
'Well, I should better change into some heavier clothes before I go to Icirrus then.' she thought, heading out.

* * *

Dimitri entered the main hall, finding Ester waiting for him. "Oh! I'm sorry. Did you wait here for long?" he asked sheepishly, approaching her. "Not really, but I thought I told you I was visiting, didn't I?" "Of course. I apologize for making you wait. What did you want to talk about?" "I went to check on the airport's repairs' status. Turns out, they're almost done. It will be operational again tomorrow."  
Dimitri's eyes widened. "Already?" "Yes. I pride myself on efficiency, and my workers are asked to replicate the golden standard in any industry."

Dimitri scratched his head. "I know that, but... damn. The devil works hard, but you work harder." Ester chuckled. "Funny you should say that. I actually came to talk to you about something else. In the last gym leader council, someone brought up the issue of how monopoly oriented Unova's economy was becoming, and I heard you even voiced your agreement!"  
Dimitri stiffened. "I did, but I only did so out of concern for our economic-" "Let me make one thing really clear, Dimitri. Because it seems that someone here has spoken out of line one too many times."

She came closer, and he was suddenly aware of how cold her tone had become. "Mistralton City operates on both private and public fundings, right? Can you tell me what the overall percentage of private and public incomes are?" "They're... mostly private." "Riiight. Mostly private. I shouldn't remind you who's the one funding the airport, the flight school, and all the structures associated with your city's biggest pride and joy, right?"

Dimitri's gaze lowered. "... You." "Exactly." Ester took a deep breath, then smiled. "It doesn't need to be like this, you know. We've had a perfectly good relationship up until now, and believe me, I don't like using intimidation to get what I want."  
She lowered her tone of voice. "You've been a good man up until now, Dimitri. I don't want to cut your city's resources in half or... well, cut them almost entirely. I care about Mistralton just as much as I care about the rest of Unova. But for things to work as they should, everyone should work together. And for Mistralton to keep its lights on... you should remember who's putting in all the lightbulbs."

He didn't reply. She looked at him. "Did I go too hard on you? I just wanted to make the concept crystal clear. Do you understand?" "Yes... I do." "Great! If you're uncomfortable with the current state of things, you don't need to make your concerns public. We can just talk it out, and figure out a way to make everyone happy. You know what I mean."  
Unfortunately, he did. He had used Ester's help many times, and there had been a steady stream of money passed between the two of them - he knew if she wanted to, she could've destroyed his reputation with a flick of a finger.

She went on. "Now, the gym leader's council is made up of mostly teens or young adults with a limited understanding of how our economy works, right? And you, Tom and Maxime are the only adults with an idea of what's going on. I'm sure you can... convince the others that's not a valid concern for the near future." She smiled. "Do that, and our agreement will be perfectly fine. Don't worry, you won't have to go against the grain for long. Soon enough, that won't be necessary anymore."

"What do you mean?" he asked. "You'll find out soon. Anyway, I think it's my time to go. I have business to attend in Icirrus." She turned to face him one last time. "Remember my words, because if another PR incident like this happens, I won't be so lenient. My patience is limited."

* * *

_"As you all know, I'm Miria Reiner, and I'm an actress on the rise, the star of the show, and soon-to-be queen of your hearts!" The sound of clapping could be heard from across the room, as Cecilia appeared in the scene. "Great job, sweetie! That was almost as good as your mother." she chuckled, ruffling a six year old Miria's hair.  
"Almost? Almost is not good enough." Miria pouted. "I know, you want it to be just perfect. And it will become perfect! You've just got to raise your hands like that-"_ Miria sighed, fast forwarding the video as she skipped over her mother's correction of her posture.

The scene changed, and this time it was Miria playing around with her maid's Pokémon. _"Emolga, use Thundershock! Lampent, Fire Spin! Just like we trained!" Miria ordered. Emolga jumped up from the drawer and made a dramatic entrance, using Thundershock. Lampent immediately followed it up by using Fire Spin to encircle the electric type move, and the combination sent spark everywhere as a beautiful spectacle ensued with the two Pokémon bowing to the people gathered there._

_Child Miria clapped enthusiastically as the maids politely clapped with her. "That was so good! The moves looked so cool together!" she chirped. "Right, Sadie?" she turned to a maid, who nodded sheepishly. "Of course, young Mistress." "Yay!"  
"What did I just see?" Cecilia entered the room, shaking her head disapprovingly. "Darling, how many times do I have to tell you? I love your enthusiasm for shows, I really do, but that's a bit too much, don't you think?"  
Miria's shoulders slumped. "But... I want my Pokémon to look cool and strong! What's wrong with that?" Her mother sighed, patting her shoulders and motioning for the maids to leave the room._

_"Darling, you've got to stop with your exploits. You know our family; the Reiner name has always been a staple in Musicals since their conception. I'm the star of the show, but in the future, you will become my successor. You can't make your Pokémon wiggle around and use moves to catch their eyes! They need to dance, steal the stage, and capture all people's attention."  
Miria's gaze lowered. "But... But..." "No buts, darling. If you want success, that's the safest and best way to do it. Listen to mother, and everything will be alright."_

Miria's hands shook as she stopped the video. She had forgotten about that time. After having difficulty to find answers and carving her own identity, she thought she could turn to the past to find some clues - and yet, digging up the DVDs of when she was little and her mother recorded her little "shows" made her even angrier.

"I just couldn't have what I wanted, could I?" she groaned. She had watched countless moments of her dancing with her Pokémon to train for Musicals, and none of them felt wrong... but they didn't feel right, either. It was as if she was limiting herself in some way.  
Her mother had always hated seeing her fight, encouraging her to follow the Musical path instead, but where had that led her? She needed to figure out a way to find her own path without giving up the spectacles she liked so much.

She went out to get some coffee after turning off the TV, and got to thinking. 'I can't figure anything out. It's like the answers I'm looking for are right in front of me, and yet so far from my grasp.' She thought about the scene she had just seen - the combination with Emolga and Lampent was actually pretty cool. Watching her younger self play around with moves and training her Pokémon to be performers and fighters, she'd felt something stir inside her heart...

She blinked, slowly. She seemed to be getting so close to the solution, and yet a piece of the puzzle kept escaping her...  
After finishing her coffee, she went back to her room and played the scene with Lampent and Emolga again. She saw the childlike enthusiasm in her eyes, but most importantly she figured out what really hit home. ""But... I want my Pokémon to look cool and strong!"

The sentence buzzed around in her head for a while. She took out Star and the Liepard came out of the Pokéball, a questioning look on her face. "Hey, Star. Do you think it's possible that the answer I've been looking for... is that I don't need to choose between my desire to perform and my desire to battle?" "Mrrow?" Liepard came closer, and started headbutting her hand, wanting some cuddles.

Miria scratched her ears as she kept talking. "I mean, I've always seen this big divide between being a trainer and being a musical star, and everyone around me told me I can't do both... right?" "Mrow." The Liepard nodded between purrs. "But what if... what if I can? What if every battle I participate in becomes a show?"  
She stood up, and Star meowed in protest, as if to ask why she wasn't giving her scratches anymore.

"Sorry, sorry." Miria went back to scratching her, a new light in her eyes. "But... I think I might have found a solution. You know how trainers fight, right? I would love to add a performative element to my fights. Remember how I told you to enter the battlefield gracefully at the beginning of my journey? I think... I think I've gradually lost contact with that part of myself as time went on. I'd like to try again, but this time knowing that we're strong, and we can do it."

"Mroow?" Liepard looked at her curiously. "I mean... we are strong, but we can be beautiful as well, don't you think? And this way, I'd have the added bonus of looking pretty while killing it in battle and sticking it up to my mother. I know it sounds like a crazy idea... but it might just be what I need to shake things up. Are you with me, darling?"

Star headbutted her hand and purred, smiling at her. "Aw, so you do have feelings, you big cat!" Miria cuddled her starter with a smile on her face. "You know, I feel so glad to have all 0f you by my side. Yep... I feel really lucky."  
The Liepard blinked slowly and kept purring, as Miria picked up her things with a newfound resolve.

"Alright, this is going to be a bit weird, since I'll have to work quite hard to get it just right... but I'm sure we can do it." she smiled. "Together."


	13. Cold winds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Ready to face the Icirrus gym leader and her friend Ryo, Alma's got a big challenge ahead, and Ryo isn't pulling any punches. As everything goes down, both him and Ester reminisce about their past._

After a gruesome but relatively uneventful climb of a snow covered Twist Mountain, Alma finally arrived in Icirrus City. The weather was really rigid even for that time of the year, and the young trainer was really glad she had heeded Ester's advice and covered up. Even with winter clothes, she was still feeling cold.

She immediately took out her Xtransceiver and called Ryo. The gym leader answered her call in a matter of seconds. "Yes?" "Hi, Ryo, I'm Alma! I would like to schedule our gym battle." "Sure. When would you like to challenge me?" "Does tomorrow work for you? I need to sort out some things, then we can battle!" "Of course. Whenever you want." "Is tomorrow at two good?" she asked him. "Sure. See ya tomorrow!"

Alma smiled and put away her Xtransceiver. She went to train for a bit; after all, she had no idea how Ryo fought, and she'd rather be safe than sorry. It took her a while to train the Pokémon she would've used in the gym - particularly Samson, Arin and Siegfried, who she had taught Signal Beam to face Ryo's dark types.  
Icirrus did not have many places to visit; the swamp was frozen over due to the cold and there weren't any big buildings of interest. She saw a villa near the gym, but it was heavily guarded, so she couldn't even see what that was about.

The next day, she entered the gym and was greeted by an assistant. "Ryo is already inside. Please come in." She nodded and entered the battlefield. It was... plain? She didn't see anything weird going on in the field. Ryo was standing on the opposite side, in his full black gym uniform.  
"Welcome, challenger." he greeted her. "Uh, hello to you too! What's up with the field? Are there any hidden traps?" He smiled. "No, none whatsoever. I don't use any weird terrain."

His expression became serious. "However, do note that I'm going to put your mental to the test. As soon as the match begins, my objective will be to completely crush you and your team." Alma blinked. That was... intense. "Ok, then... I guess I'm ready?" "Good."  
The assistant declared the beginning of the match, and they both sent out their first Pokémon.

Ryo led off with an Umbreon, while Alma sent out Siegfried. 'Ok, Umbreon can't do much to seriously hurt me, but I can't seriously hurt her either. My best option here is to set up, I believe.' "Siegfried, Shift Gear!" "Chitsuki, Yawn." As Klinklang set up, Umbreon made it drowsy, and Alma gritted her teeth. "Gear Grind!" "Work Up." The steel type move, even with a boost, did minimum damage to the enemy, and in that moment Alma had a taste of how bulky that Umbreon truly was, as the opponent built up her attack and special attack.

Since Siegfried was asleep due to Yawn, Alma withdrew him and sent out Samson. "Tsk tsk, running away already? Seems like you overestimated the damage of your Pokémon." Ryo smirked, as he got another turn to set up Work Ups.  
Alma scoffed, trying to not let him get to her. "You won't be laughing for long. Go, Samson, Brick Break!" She couldn't risk High Jump Kick missing, not with a boosted Umbreon; but again, she was greeted by a nasty surprise as her opponent ate the hit up for breakfast.

Ryo wagged his finger. "You shouldn't have sent in your win condition so soon. Baton Pass!" Alma's eyes widened. "Oh no." "Oh yes." After tanking the hit, the Umbreon sent out the baton, which allowed Ryo to send in a boosted Hydreigon.  
The dragon roared menacingly in Alma's face. "Samson, use High Jump Kick!" Screw the chance of missing, if she didn't knock her out in that moment that Hydreigon was going to sweep her entire team.

"Nice, but no. Dia, Focus Blast." Hydreigon charged up and sent out a nuke that not only knocked out Samson as if it was a piece of cake, but straight out opened a hole in the battlefield. Ryo smiled at Alma's horror. "What's wrong? Are you finished already? Do you not have any Pokémon that can take a hit?"  
Alma started sweating as she sent out her Simipour, hoping to the heavens that she survived at least one turn or got a freeze.

"Dia, knock out that pathetic excuse of a Pokémon, please." Ryo waved dismissively. "Ice Beam!" Alma ordered. The Simipour was faster, and managed to land the hit. Unfortunately, it didn't do as much damage as she had hoped, and Hydreigon was primed and ready to attack - there was a horrible whistle above, and Alma raised her head in horror as a Draco Meteor dropped on the field.

Arin was, of course, knocked out instantly, and numerous big holes appeared on the battlefield. The special attack drop didn't even seem to matter - after the boosts, Hydreigon was merely back to his normal special attack, and Klinklang was asleep. Alma lowered her eyes. It was over. She sent out the sleeping Pokémon, and she received a Flamethrower to the face. Siegfried was down.

She had lost, in a clean 3-0 victory for the gym leader.  
Ryo took a deep breath and walked up to her. "How are you feeling?" he asked her. "How should I feel? I feel horrible! You destroyed me and you said those horrible things and-" Ryo raised an eyebrow. "I think you misunderstood my intentions, but I apologize. Listen. When I fight, I'm not your friend. I'm not Ryo. I'm Icirrus City's gym leader, and as a gym leader, my job is making sure you're worthy."

"But-" Ryo shook his head. "Do you really think I wasn't swept horribly in some fights in my life? Even in the face of your worst defeats, you stand up and learn from your mistakes. What could I have done differently? What could I learn from a loss? You've got to think about it in a learning perspective. As for my comments, well, your journey's going to be tough. But you can't let anyone get you down. If you're not 100% sure that you're going to defeat me, leave. I want to push you to your limits, I want you to destroy me and feel good about it because you learned, because you did your best and you came out on top."

He looked at her straight in the eyes, and she was surprised by their intensity. "I want people that challenge me to understand something. Their journey is tough, but they are tougher. You're no different, Alma. I didn't hold back, no, I pushed your buttons even harder because I'm your seventh gym leader, and because you need to be stronger than this to be successful in your journey. Understood?"

She took a deep breath. She couldn't argue with that logic. "I... I understand." "Good. Now go out there, and get stronger so you can defeat me." Alma nodded after recollecting her thoughts, and walked away.

* * *

When Alma left, Ryo took out Chitsuki and Dia's Pokéballs and went to heal them in his personal gym leader room after the fact. He took off his gym uniform and changed into his normal clothing. After that, he walked up to the reception and looked at his assistant. "I'm going out for a walk. Mind calling me if any new challengers come in?" "Of course." "Thank you."

The dark type gym leader noticed it was snowing as soon as he stepped foot outside. The air was colder than usual, but he knew it was pretty typical Icirrus weather, especially in winter.  
Icirrus was, for many people, just a winter vacation town - it was considered cool for rich people to have a home or two there, to enjoy some respite from their busy workplace in the city.

For Icirrus residents, that was not the case. It was more of a town than a city, perhaps, but it was their home, and a hut of tradition and kind of an isolated hub from the rest of the world.  
Ryo smiled watching the kids playing in the snow, dancing and celebrating as it slowly fell from the sky. One of the kids noticed him and ran up to him. "Ryo!" The kid tackled him in a hug, and he had to stand his ground not to fall. "Ow, ow! Jim, your enthusiasm is commendable, but you almost tripped me." he chuckled, patting the kids' back.

"Sorry, sorry." The kid didn't sound sorry at all. "Are you out for a walk?" "You could say that. It's been a while since I came back, with all my troubles and all." Jim furrowed his brow. "Troubles? Can't you just... fight them all?" Ryo shook his head. "If only it was that easy... no, I can't fight everything until they disappear, you know." "Aw. Well, for someone as strong as you, no problem is too big, right?"

"Right..." Ryo smiled, patting the kids back. "Come on, go back to your friends. They're waiting for you." "Ok! But you will come see me in the holiday season, right? Mom can cook some delicious vanilla cookies for you." Ryo laughed. "Sure, why not? You know me well, it seems. Say hi to your mom for me." "I will! Bye!"  
As the kid went back to his friends, Ryo couldn't help but envy him a little. They were so young and carefree. He had been like that once, too.

As if on cue, his eyes fell on the place where he had passed most of his childhood - Ester's mansion. His eyes narrowed. It had been years since he had gone to that place for fun and games. Then again, his relationship with Ester had been fractured during the years.  
He was a gym leader now, and she was the uncontested economic leader of Unova. Everything had gotten so complicated...

* * *

Ester entered her old home, the Icirrus mansion, and looked around. "How is everything going along?" she asked one of the servants, who bowed his head to her. "We're cleaning the mansion like you requested. It should be done pretty soon. The last rooms are being taken care of." "Good. That's what I like to hear."  
She put away her heavy coat and turned to Nash, who was following suit with the rest of her suitcases. "I'm going to stay here for a while. I want some peace and quiet to work on my latest projects. Are you up to stay here for a while as well?"

Nash nodded. "Of course. Will I be staying in the guest room?" "If that's ready, yes." Her financial advisor looked around. "This place hasn't changed in the years we've been gone, huh?" Ester closed her eyes, about to tell him that there was no need to dig up those ancient memories, but she decided to indulge him for once.  
"No. It's always the same. Even with this many people inside, it still feels..."

She shook her head. "Nevermind. Nash, what did I tell you about me not wanting to dwell on the past and move forward?" Nash adjusted his glasses. "You're right. I apologize. I shouldn't have dug up unpleasant memories." "They're not unpleasant, but they contribute to nothing - therefore, they are unnecessary. We have more important matters to take care of."

"Of course." Nash nodded. "Where are you going to put your new office?" "I think... my father's room might be the best suited for that. It was already pretty much an office when I was little. There'd be no point in moving desks and going through all the trouble to use my room." She called over a servant and she told her that her father's room was almost done. "Great. I'll be there in half an hour to check the progress you made."  
The servant nodded and disappeared inside a corridor. "Nash, can you help me unpack my things? It'll be quick, I don't have much inside my suitcases anyway. Well, apart from my documents, I guess." "Of course."

After finishing unpacking both her and Nash's things, Ester took a deep breath. "Alright. I think it's time to go check out my father's room. You coming?" "Right behind you." Nash nodded.

Her father's room was spacious but spartan in its decor. The only notable furnitures were the office desk, the bed and two drawers. Ester remembered there used to be some plants there too, but they had shriveled up and died with no one to take care of them.  
"This room looks and feels really tacky, but it'll have to do." she shook her head. "I mean, your father loved flower patterns." Nash commented with a chuckle. "Well, I don't. They make me feel old."

Nash chuckled again, and Ester looked at him, annoyed. "What's there to laugh about?" "Sometimes, I forget you're still a twenty one years old girl." "What's that supposed to mean? Help me check the drawers instead of making those idiotic comments." Her advisor nodded, the smile quickly disappearing from his face. "You're right. Let's split up and start looking around."

Ester opened one of the drawers and was almost submerged by papers. "What are those?" she scoffed, reading them.

_Report #6  
Student Ester Auguste Laurent is exceptionally gifted in math and does very well in all subjects. Definitely a great student and a very fast learner._

_Report #8  
Her school year was exceptional as always, but she always seem so lonely. She should interact more with other students._

_Report #9  
Nothing to say. My only complaint will be that I'll retire without seeing her graduate._

_Report #15  
Aced all tests this year, except for one she handed in empty because it was "too easy and an insult to her intelligence"._

_Report #23  
Ester is an incredible student with a bright future. There's no complaints to be had with such a great learner._

"There's still so much trash in this old mansion. Can't believe my father kept all my school reports." Ester tossed the reports in the bin, annoyed. "I ordered this place to be cleaned, didn't I? Why are these still around?" she asked Nash, who was looking at other documents.  
"I have no idea. Maybe the person cleaning thought you might have some emotional attachment to them?"

Ester scoffed. "Unbelievable. I always have to do all the work around here." She checked one of the desks' drawers and blinked in confusion. "Letters?" She opened one of them, and her hands started shaking as she grabbed all the letters and tossed them in the bin. "What were those all about?" Her advisor asked. "My father writing to... my dead mom. Disgusting."

If Nash had any reaction to her words, it didn't show. "I'm guessing you're going to throw away all the things in this room, then." "Yeah, that's probably what's going to happen. I need a new office, and this mess isn't going to cut it in the state it's in." She sighed, recollecting her thoughts. "Alright. I'm going to check if there's anything remotely salvageable here."

Nash looked at her. "Do you need some help?" "No, thanks. I'll do it myself. I've sorted out most of the things I need to do today anyway, so I have nothing better to do." He adjusted his glasses. "Suit yourself. Remember, there's a meeting at four o' clock-" "I know, Nash. Just leave me alone." "As you wish."

He exited the room, and Ester took a deep breath. Her father's room had always made her feel so weird. It was a mix of nostalgia and bubbling resentment. She used to sneak in with Ryo when she was little and they'd explore the place that was normally off limits to them.  
It wasn't... a bad memory. But it made her feel weird, and she didn't really like what she couldn't pick apart or understand.

She opened another one of the drawers, and saw a photo album. She scrolled through it and her expression got increasingly sad as she saw her mother and father travelling for their honeymoon, them eating at a foreign restaurant, her mother laughing as her father made silly faces at her pregnant belly...

"You really were very much like me, mom." Ester said softly. She had her same beautiful green eyes, her same brown flowing hair... "I just don't have your smile." She closed the album and put it away. She didn't have the heart to throw it away. Her mother was in there too.

She had died giving birth to Ester, and soon her husband's fondness towards his daughter had turned to hatred as grief for his wife's loss twisted his feelings. He hated how much his daughter looked like his wife, and he wished that "unfair exchange" had never happened. Ester had suffered greatly during her childhood because of her feelings of not being wanted, and despised her father as a result.

After cleaning up some other mementos, Ester wiped the sweat off her face. "This is taking longer than I would've liked..." She checked the clock, and saw it was almost time for the meeting. "Uh-oh. Guess I should get going. I'll finish another day."

The meeting was as boring as it could get. Her advisors weren't incompetent or boring - they were just saying very obvious things to her. After years of studying, researching and first hand experience, even the fluctuations of the market seemed predictable and uninteresting.  
Plus, the more time passed, the more her monopoly and chokehold on the economy got stronger, making even her best competitors shrivel and die in her wake.

Finally, the meeting was over and Ester could stand up. One of her advisors walked up to her. "Sorry to bother, boss, but we can't find the copy of the contract that made us the exclusive manufacturers of Dive Balls, and since the deadline for its renovation is coming up, we need it as soon as possible. Could you help us find it?"  
Ester scoffed. "How did you manage to lose a contract?" The advisor shrank under her gaze. "I apologize. I have no idea." "It's fine. I'll look for my copy and send you a scan by mail." "Thank you very much!"

She inhaled deeply as she left the room. It was no biggie, right? Why was she so tired and short-tempered lately?  
She headed for her room and started checking the drawers. Even after half an hour of research, though, she couldn't find it. At a certain point, her eyes fell on something that was definitely not a contract, buried deep beneath the list of documents.

She slowly extracted it and saw it was a photo, faded by the years. It was a picture of her and Ryo on the swing that used to be in her villa's big garden. She did not remember that photo being taken, but she vaguely recalled the moment that had led to that. She was fourteen at the time, and was looking at the sky and smiling, the sad kind but a smile nevertheless, and Ryo was sitting on the other swing looking baffled.  
By jogging her memory, she managed to remember what had happened.

_"So how was your day, Ester?" Ryo asked, pushing her to swing higher. "Today was another boring day in a list of boring days that seems to never end." she replied. "I did manage to sell all of my home made cookies at the school fair, which I'm pretty proud of, but the rest was as uninteresting as it could get."  
Ryo sighed. "I wish I was as good as you in half the things you do. You always seem one step ahead."_

_"Being good without even trying is more of a curse than a blessing, though." Ester retorted. "The only subject in which I feel any kind of interest in is math, and that's because they moved me to a higher class. Everything else is always dull." "Well, do you feel bored while we play together, too?"_

_Ester stopped for a moment before replying. "To be honest, I don't... feel much anymore." Ryo looked at her, hurt. "Oh..." She didn't register the disappointment in his voice. Then again, she was kind of zoning out at that moment. When she turned, though, she saw the sadness in his eyes and felt a tinge of guilt._

_"Not that you're a boring person. I'm just like this lately." she quickly tried to fix things. "Can I do anything to help?" he asked. "I... I don't think my problems can be fixed so easily." She looked at the sky. She felt a droplet of rain touch her face. "Say, Ryo... have you ever thought about ending it all?"  
There was a long pause. Ryo looked at her, baffled. "Ending it all? What do you mean?"_

_She shook her head. "Nevermind. Forget I said anything. You're too young to understand." She jumped down the swing. "Maybe when you're older you'll get it. I just hope, for your sake, that you will never have that idea." Ryo couldn't understand at the time. He just knew she was sad, and so he acted in the best way a ten year old could act to try to make sadness go away._

_He walked up to her and hugged her.  
Ester's eyes widened, and she awkwardly reciprocated the gesture. "I told you I'm not good at this..." she murmured, patting his back. "But... thanks."_

Ester saw something wet fall on the photo, and she put her left hand on her face. She was crying.  
And she hated how it made her feel. She felt awkward and powerless, as though she was still fourteen years old and she hadn't changed at all.

Things had changed. She was powerful now. She was in control. She could not allow herself to be vulnerable like this anymore.  
She hesitated, then in a fit of anger and sorrow she crumpled the photo and tossed in the trash.

As soon as she did that, her turmoil seemed to cease. She felt... empty.  
'Time to look for the contract.' she thought.  
Even when she found it, though, she still felt no sense of accomplishment. No joy.

Just like back then.

* * *

Ryo had known Ester didn't have a normal childhood since he was little. They had met at a family dinner when he was still five years old, when his father had invited both Nash and Ester's father.  
While they were all sitting at the table and joking around, Ester was silent, cold and detached. She seemed to have no interest in any of the conversations going on.

Ryo had gotten close to her and asked her to play together. Her reaction was of dismay and cold indifference, choosing to ignore his request.  
But he was a very stubborn child. After dinner was over and the grown ups had started talking about economy and politics, Ryo had followed Ester who was sitting alone in the garden.

He hadn't said anything. He just sat near her, waiting for her to address him. Sure enough, after a while of feigning ignorance, she had finally snapped.  
_"What are you doing still here? Didn't I tell you I have no interest in playing with you?" "But I want to play." "You're..." she scoffed. "You're a very annoying child, you know that? I wasn't like that when I was your age." "I..." he struggled for a little bit, trying to put his thoughts into a sentence. "You look lonely. I thought you wanted some company."_

_Ester's expression changed. "You don't even know what you're talking about. Go away." "But I can't play tag alone, can I? Please?" he gave her the best puppy eyed face he could muster, and she sighed. "If I entertain your silly idea, will you go away?" "Yes! Pinky promise!" He put out his pinky, and Ester blinked. "What is that supposed to mean?" "It's when you make a promise with your pinky finger! You can never break that promise!" he explained, proud to know more than the "grown up"._

_"That's..." Ester chuckled. "That's stupid." "Ah! You laughed!" "I did not!" "You did!" She scoffed, trying to hide her smile. That child was so stupid. "Anyway, tag with someone four years older than you is hardly what I'd call fair." "I'm the best at tag in my school! I've never lost a game of..." She lightly touched his shoulder. "Tag. You're it." "Hey! No fair!" Ryo protested. "Life isn't fair. Deal with it."_

After that event, she had slowly started warming up to him, and occasionally invited him over to her house. They played together many more times, in the mansion's huge garden and occasionally getting into trouble as well.  
_"This is my father's room." Ester explained in hushed tones. "I'm not supposed to enter, but..." she got out a pair of keys, and Ryo's eyes lit up. "Ah! You stole the keys!" "I didn't steal them. I merely borrowed them." "That's stealing!" "Shut up. Do you want to see the room or not?" "Yes!"_

_Ryo looked around, amazed. "It's a huge room! But it's so... empty." he turned to look at Ester. "Why aren't you supposed to be here, anyway?" She clenched her green flower dress. "My father... he doesn't like the idea of me going around and disturbing his peace and quiet."  
Ryo blinked. "That's stupid." Ester chuckled. "Maybe." "Let's look for secrets! I'm sure there's a treasure map or something really cool around here!" "You watch too many movies. You're only going to find documents and contracts here." "That's boring. Let's look for more hidden stuff!"_

_Ester gave up trying to explain things to him and they looked around for a little while, then Ryo got bored looking at her father's paperwork and scurried out. "Hey! Wait up!" Their laughter echoed in the corridor of the empty, cold mansion._

As years went on, Ester became more and more closed off. After her father's death, when she was fourteen, she had to deal with her uncle seeking legal action to snatch the inheritance out of her fingers, and had therefore closed herself in her office and studied economics and law under Nash's guidance to win the court case.

They grew even more apart when Ryo started his trainer journey and left Icirrus City, and with Ester winning the court case by outmaneuvering her uncle at only sixteen, she dedicated her life to business and growing the family name and fame. When Ryo had become gym leader of Icirrus, Ester had visited to congratulate him, but she seemed cold and detached. Even with him trying to reconnect with her, it was to no avail as she had grown calculating and emotionless.

In a desperate attempt to reach out to her, Ryo had asked her to battle him, trying to understand her emotions. Even in the heat of battle, and with them going toe to toe being both great trainers, the only energy he had felt emanating from her was a cold, cruel pressure and desire to win.  
At the end of the battle, finishing in a narrow 1-0 victory for Ester, Ryo had felt dejected and no closer to understanding her than at the beginning of the battle.

Only when she had left, the only acknowledgement of their old bond was her saying: "good luck with everything, old friend". Then, the door had closed behind him, and with that a chapter of his life.

* * *

Ryo snapped back to the present by noticing he had zoned out, lost in thought, for a good five minutes. The snow was almost covering him up to his ankle. 'So much for going out for a walk...' he thought, shaking his head.  
Old, unresolved feelings of sadness and longing for answers were stirring in his chest, and as he looked away, he started to think that there was no going back to that happier time.

Maybe his friendship with her was dead after all.


	14. Looking for answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _With Leon trying to gather allies against Ester's growing power, Alma gets a call from her family and trains to face Ryo again. Will she be able to beat the gym leader, or will he destroy her again?_

"May I come in?" "Of course." Leon entered Tom's personal room in the Nimbasa City gym, as the gym leader tinkered with a device he was working on. The professor could not recognize it, so he guessed it was one of his latest projects.  
"I'm sorry to disturb, but as this is something important, I needed to talk to you right away." Leon started, in a stern tone.

"Do go on." Tom turned to face him, putting down his device with an unreadable expression. "It's about the ULG base in Nacrene City. We talked about it in the latest council, remember?" "Of course I do." Leon took a deep breath. His next words weren't going to be as easy to say. "There's more to it. While investigating, I found this." He gave him the Xtransceiver he had found in the terrorist base.  
Tom's eyes narrowed. "You recognize it, right? If I'm not mistaken, it's a prototype of your newer generation of Xtransceivers." Leon pressed on.

"I do recognize it, as a matter of fact." The gym leader crossed his arms. "Are you accusing me of working with terrorists?" "I'm not saying that." Leon cautiously stated. "I'm saying Ester might be working with terrorists, and your inventions might've helped them elude security for so long."  
Tom blinked. "What am I supposed to do with this information?" "I'm asking you if you knew something about it or not." The gym leader shrugged. "Even if I did, that's none of my business. Once I sell my projects to third parties, they can use it however they see fit."

Leon's eyes widened. "Are you telling me you didn't care even if this contributed to lives lost, destruction and widespread panic?" Tom sighed. "It's not like that. As a gym leader, my duty is to care for other people. As an inventor, however, my duty is to progress and science." "And profit." Leon scoffed. "Well, that's certainly a part of it as well."

The professor paused for a second to recollect himself. "I feel like you're only trying to justify your actions with a "I'm not to blame because my inventions are fundamentally good, the people using them are bad" perspective to cover up your own interests. Which is... you know, a way to look at it, but you need to do better than this. Ester is slowly taking control of the region. We can't help her do that, or she will get enough power and influence to do whatever she sees fit."

"She's already doing that, Leon. She already won. I see no point in fighting her, when she is clearly the future of Unova." The professor scoffed. "And what do you think a person willing to use terrorist forces and police to further her own gains will do once she gets control of Unova?" Leon looked at Tom straight in the eyes. "Please, Tom. We need to band together to defeat her. I've done research on her deals, on how she got where she got. She's an economic genius for sure, but she is also a criminal. Do you really think working for her won't put you in an accomplice position as well? Do you really think if she wins you'll be clear of trouble for all your life?"

Tom paused for a second, then he looked at Leon. "Are you familiar with what happened in Nimbasa four years ago?" "There was a train crash, if I'm not mistaken..." "Yes. The Anville Town incident." Tom sighed. "There was a horrible malfunction with the rail switching system, and two trains crashed into each other. The impact caused a lot of deaths. In that train crash, both my fiancée and my little darling son, Billy, lost their lives."

Leon's eyes widened. "God... but then..." He looked at Tom's robot assistant. "Yes. I named my robot after my little son. Anyway, that's beside the point. When that disaster happened, I needed a great amount of money to repair the rails and the rail switches. Ester offered to help, and we struck a deal. I'd work for her, and she'd help me with repairs. Without her, with insufficient funds, I couldn't have done a thing."

Tom's eyes turned cold. "The world is at the fingertips of the strong and wealthy. There's no other way to put it – Ester right now could easily force a coup on the region if she wanted to, and I want to be on the winning side not only for my sake, but for my city and my people's too."  
Leon lowered his eyes. "There's no way I can convince you to change your mind with words alone, is there?" "Afraid not." The professor packed his things, taking back the Xtransceiver. "I understand. I hope you'll change your mind... before it's too late, that is."

Tom watched him leave. His eyes wandered on Billy, who was in standby mode, sitting in a corner. For a moment, he felt a tinge of pain that had never truly subsided.  
Then, he went back to his work.

* * *

Alma sighed, scribbling on a notebook. Ever since her defeat, she had struggled to come up with a plan to beat Ryo. She knew he had a team of powerful Pokémon at his disposal, and she needed to really work on her strategy and train to beat him.  
But that had proved to be pretty difficult.  
Unlike Daku, which she could cripple with rain, Ryo's Baton Pass team had no clear weaknesses. Even if she went for Haze or Whirlwind to remove boosts, if someone like Hydreigon was to get boosted again, she could've easily one shot her entire team. She needed to stop Baton Pass before it could get going.

Her most viable strategy was probably Taunt, a move easily accessible for her team that could block status moves from going off. However, she was almost certain Ryo had more nasty surprises waiting in the wings. She needed to figure him out if she wanted to have any chance of winning the gym badge.

Suddenly, her Xtransceiver rang, startling her. She picked up and saw the contact name: her mother. "Hi, mom." "Hi, sweetie! We haven't talked in a while. I was wondering how your adventure was going." Alma shrugged. "I'm fine, but I'm stuck in Icirrus right now. I need to beat Ryo." "I'm sure you'll figure it out. Haruki wanted to say hi as well. Do you want to talk to him?"

Alma chuckled. "Sure. Haven't heard the little guy in a while." "HELLO!" Alma had to distance the Xtransceiver to avoid getting her ears demolished. "Hello, troublemaker. Thanks for killing my hearing. How are you?" She heard some weird sounds going on on the other side. Haruki had probably put speakers on.  
"I'm doing great. But it's a bit boring without a big sis to torment." He paused for a second. "You sound... sad. Is everything ok?"

Alma bit her lip. Her little brother was more perceptive than what he let on. "I'm ok. I just encountered a hurdle in my journey, but I'll manage, don't worry." "Hmmm... are you sure? You can always come home if you want to. I'm trying to learn how to cook some sweets, and I've made some fire cupcakes lately." "By 'fire' cupcakes you mean that you burnt them, or-" "HEY! It's not like that. I've actually stopped burning them after the fifth time."

Alma chuckled. "Is that supposed to sell me on them?" "No, but it was supposed to make you feel better." The trainer's eyes widened, then she smiled. "... Thanks, Haruki. I'm sorry for making you worry. I promise, everything will be ok." "Are you sure?" "I think so. After all, I have some wonderful friends and my little brother on my side. What could go wrong?"

Haruki thought about it for a while. "Nothing, I guess. You do have a pretty good team supporting you." "I do." she smiled. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up. I'm feeling better already." "That's good. If you're not in a good mood, I can't torment you as much." Alma rolled her eyes. "You haven't changed at all." "I'm going to give you mom back, ok?"

She heard some shuffling, and her mother was back on the phone. "Hello, sweetie." "Hi again, mom." "I hope you have a wonderful day. I'm sure you'll be able to overcome all of your obstacles on your journey, and if you need me, I'm just a call away, ok?" "Yeah. Thanks, have a good day as well."  
She hung up and smiled, feeling a little better. "Well, time to go train."

After a long training session and switching up some of her moves, Alma felt ready to try and challenge Ryo again. She called him and asked to schedule an appointment. "You can come over anytime. I'm ready." he simply replied. She thanked him and hung up, inhaling deeply to steady her nerves.  
She felt ready to face him, but not knowing his third Pokémon or what he would've pulled this time scared her a little.

When she arrived, she was greeted by the assistant, and as she trotted over to the desk she noticed Ryo nearby fiddling with a box, his Hydreigon hovering a few feet above and seemingly waiting for something. She greeted him and he waved back.

"Could you wait just a minute? I need to give her her medicine." he said, getting some pills out of the box. "Her medicine?" Alma asked, furrowing her brow. "Yep." He gave the medicine to the Hydreigon, who swallowed the pills effortlessly. "You see, Dia here" he patted his dragon's back "was born with a very rare condition. She would suffer horrible headaches that pained her every day, and due to her compromised health, she was also incredibly aggressive. Even as a Deino, no one would even dare come close to her."

His expression softened as the Hydreigon headbutted his hand and he scratched her neck. "They called me to calm her down. At first, I was at a loss, so I decided to put her to sleep and then asked for a doctor. After running some tests, we determined her condition and the medicine to help her feel better. As soon as she woke up, I gave her some medicine, and she immediately felt better."

He withdrew his Pokémon after petting her some more. "I found her on my doorstep the next day. She followed me around all day until I agreed to add her to my team. She was a sweetheart, but required special care due to her condition. I need to give her this medicine every day, two times a day, otherwise she suffers horribly." he sighed.  
"She's a good Pokémon. She doesn't deserve to suffer - no one does. But that medicine can make it better, and hopefully I can make her life better by training her and keeping her company, too."

Alma smiled. "You're a really kind person, Ryo." He chuckled, blushing slightly. "Where did that come from? I'm going to tear you apart in a few minutes, you know." "We'll see about that... but it still doesn't change how I feel." Ryo sighed, an easy smile on his face. "Your sweetness is going to kill me, one day. Shall we head to the battlefield?" "Of course."

They entered the battlefield, and as the assistant declared the start of the match, she saw the gym leader's expression harden. "Go, Maki!" "Go, Arin!" She was surprised to see him lead with a Mandibuzz. The bird Pokémon dug her talons in the ground, watching Arin with cold determination. The Simipour didn't seem intimidated, and was ready to get his revenge.

"What's that surprised expression, Alma? Were you expecting me to lead with the same Pokémon?" he smirked. She shook her head. "I was just surprised, that's all." "Well, don't be. The match is just beginning. If you show your emotions too much, it'll make it easier for me to read your moves and destroy you." She blinked, unsure whether he was giving her a tip or trying to throw her off her game. Probably both.

She decided to lead off with Taunt. Knowing a Pokémon like Mandibuzz, she could've used any kind of nasty status moves like Swagger, Toxic or Flatter, and she didn't want to give her that chance. "Arin, Taunt!" "Maki, Nasty Plot!" Alma's eyes widened as the Mandibuzz outsped her Simipour, getting her boost up before she could get taunted.

"What the... how..." The gears in her brain turned as she finally realized what had happened. That was no Mandibuzz at all. Ryo's smile widened. "Dark Pulse." Her opponent cleanly oneshot Arin with the boosted dark type move, and the amount of damage received confirmed her suspects. It wasn't Mandibuzz. That was Zoroark disguised as Mandibuzz.  
Alma sighed, recalling Arin. "You did your best. I'm sorry for letting you down." She was already down one Pokémon, and it was only the second turn.

She looked at Ryo. "How did you know?" "You want me to explain how I got the lead read correctly?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah."  
"Well, not a lot of time has passed since our last battle, so I imagined you'd be using either the same team or a slightly modified one. Since my Umbreon gave you trouble last time, your best bet to shut down my Baton Pass would be taunting before I could set up, so I figured you'd lead with a fast taunter. I didn't think you'd be willing to risk damaging your Scrafty, which is your win condition, but even if you were, I made Zoroark turn into Mandibuzz to deter you from using fighting type moves. Does that answer your question?"

Alma's eyes widened. "Jeez... you're on a whole other level, aren't you?" Ryo smirked. "Flattery won't get you anywhere. Come on, send in your next Pokémon so I can destroy you faster." 'And there it is again... but I won't let him get to me. I need to stay concentrated.' she thought.  
Knowing that Zoroark was quite the frail Pokémon and Samson had enough defenses to at least take a hit that wasn't supereffective, she sent in her Scrafty.

"Samson, use Brick Break!" "Ran, Flamethrower!" Samson managed to survive the boosted Flamethrower, just as she had expected, and gave the Zoroark a nasty uppercut that sent him flying right at the edge of the battlefield, KO. "Good job, Ran. Come back." Ryo recalled his Zoroark with a satisfied smile. Alma gritted her teeth. Samson was already weakened, and even if he wasn't KO she was sure another supereffective hit would've destroyed him. She was pretty sure he would've sent out Hydreigon next to finish him off.

As if on cue, the dark type gym leader sent out the fearful dragon, who roared menacingly at Samson. Alma had difficulties to believe that the Hydreigon was the same Pokémon that she had seen affectionately headbutt and ask her owner for scratches a few minutes ago.  
'Ok, Alma, you can do this. If Focus Blast misses, I can go from there. Even if Samson is weakened, only a super effective hit can reliably KO him.' she thought, trying her best to stay optimistic.

"Samson, High Jump Kick!" He was slower, but if he could live a hit or avoid Focus Blast... "Dia, don't let him! Superpower!" Once again, Ryo pulled the rug from under her – she did not expect him to have switched up his moves, and the powerful fighting type attack ended up being too much for Samson, who was knocked out by the hit.

"A mixed attacker... you did it to throw me off, didn't you?" she asked, gritting her teeth. Ryo chuckled. "That's part of it, yes. Come on, send out your last Pokémon. Let's end this." Alma scoffed as she sent out Siegfried – the Klinklang was probably able to survive an unboosted hit, but there was no way it could've knocked out Hydreigon from full health. "Signal Beam!" "Dia, Flamethrower!"

The fire type move hit hard, but Siegfried managed to pull through and retaliated with the bug type move – however, Alma knew it was over. Two Signal Beams would've probably weakened the Hydreigon enough to take it out with a last hit, but there was no way the Klinklang would live another hit. Sure enough, he was knocked out by another Flamethrower, sealing Ryo's second victory.

The gym leader walked up to her. "Not bad, you've improved since our last fight." "But it's still not enough to take you out." she sighed. "Not yet. But you show promise. I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough."  
Alma scoffed with a half smile. "You're an incredibly frustrating opponent to deal with. I feel so outclassed."

He looked at her. "Don't be too hard on yourself. I have more experience than you do, but if you keep learning at the rate you are right now, victory will be within your grasp soon enough." "I-I'm sorry." Alma gripped Arin's Pokéball, trying to be strong. "I've just been dealing with a lot lately."

Ryo's gaze softened. "Want to talk about it?" "I just... agh, I shouldn't bother you. You're a gym leader." "Indeed. I am a gym leader. But I am also your friend." She looked at him, and managed to steady her voice. "Then, if it's not a burden..."  
He nodded. "Let's go for a walk." he offered her his hand, and she took it.

As they walked through the city, Ryo finally broke the silence. "So what's been bothering you?" "I... I don't know. I've been feeling this way for a while. Ever since the terrorist attack in Castelia, then with everything that happened in Nimbasa and Mistralton... it's as if something started to go wrong with me. Everything has just been so... overwhelming."

Ryo didn't say anything, letting her recollect her thoughts as she went on. "I guess it's been piling up. Don't get me wrong, this journey has been a mostly positive rollercoaster, but lately I've felt a bit out of it. Maybe the tiredness has started catching up to me, but I don't find as much joy in it anymore. I don't know. It's all so confusing."  
She lowered her gaze. "I have no idea what I should do now. It's not even the gym challenge, or anything like that. I think these losses were just the straw that broke the camel's back."

Ryo put a hand on her shoulder. "I understand. It's difficult to take it all in, and with recent events being so scary and confusing, it can feel overwhelming at times. I think there's a point in all of our trainer's journeys when something just... broke inside of us."  
He smiled sadly. "I can understand that all too well, unfortunately."

"But... I mean, what happened to you was way more traumatizing." she said, after hesitating for a while. "So? It's not a competition of who suffers more, and it should never be. Your feelings are valid, Alma. And what you're experiencing is part of growing up. But you don't have to face them alone. You can seek support."  
He paused. "When my partner died, I suffered greatly. I isolated myself from other people for a while, because I couldn't bear it anymore. But my Pokémon were there. They had always been there, and I just never really noticed. I vented to them, and allowed myself time to grieve to heal properly. If I hadn't, I would've been in a darker place right now."

He looked at her. "What I mean to say is, don't suppress what you're feeling just because you think it's insignificant. If it makes you feel bad, it's never insignificant. You should address your feelings and work towards sorting them out. Take a breather. Talk to other people, share how you feel with your Pokémon as well. They will understand, they will be there, and it will strengthen your bonds and mental health."

She thought about his words for a while. "So you think I should take a break?" He nodded. "Take a break from the gym challenge. Work on your feelings and then you can think about strengthening your team. Take as much time as you need. I'm not going to go anywhere, and I will wait for you. I'm sure that when the time is right, you'll understand, and you'll be stronger than ever."

He took her hand and squeezed it. "Be kind towards your own feelings as well, Alma. They're way more important than any gym challenge." She sniffled, tears welling up in her eyes. "Ryo..." She threw her arms around him in a hug, and he held her as she cried. "Shh. It's okay. I'm here."

They stayed that way for a while before Alma ended the hug. "Thanks. You really helped me there." He smiled. "I'm glad." "I'll... I'll call you back when I feel better, okay?" "Sure, Alma. Take all the time you need. And if you need something, I'll be there." He waved and left to go back to the gym, and for the first time in a long while, Alma felt a huge weight starting to rise up from her heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mental health awareness! Take your meds and take a break if you need to. It's been a tough year and we've all been put through the wringer. Stay safe and stay strong, this will end like all bad times eventually do ^^


	15. Born to fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Beating Ryo is no easy task, so Alma needs all the help she can get, and perhaps a new member in her team as well. Meanwhile, Leon continues his digging into Ester's past, working from the shadows to try to get to the bottom of it._

After coming back from the walk with Ryo, Alma went back to the B&B she was staying in and rested for a while; in the evening, she decided to go visit Dragonspiral tower, which she hadn't done before.  
As she walked, the crunches of her boots in the snow made a pleasant sound in the backdrop. The snow falling from the sky muffled pretty much all sounds, giving a magical and sacred atmosphere to the place.

When she headed to check out the imposing tower, however, she was stopped by two people guarding the entrance. "What are you doing here?" one of them asked, eyeing her suspiciously. "Uh, I came to check out the entrance." "This building is off limits to everyone. It's too dangerous and unstable for someone to enter. Please turn back." "Ah... I see." Alma couldn't hide the tinge of disappointment in her voice, but there wasn't much she could do about that. She turned around and went back to the path north of Icirrus.

While she was walking around, she heard muffled cries and, worried, ran to check them out. She saw who was causing them: a lively looking Mienfoo, punching and kicking the air at incredible speed as if she was hitting an opponent. As soon as Alma came into her sight, the fighting type focused her eyes on her.

"Hm?" The trainer saw Mienfoo approaching and assuming a battle stance, beckoning her to fight with her right paw. "Well, if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll have. Go, Zeph!" The Sigilyph came out of his ball, ready to battle his newest opponent. Before he could do anything, though, he was hit by the fighting type's Fake Out, making him flinch. Judging by the damage, this Mienfoo was pretty strong.

"Zeph, don't be intimidated! Air Slash!" The Sigilyph tried to hit his opponent with the flying type move, but Mienfoo deftly moved to avoid it and sprung up in the air with Bounce. "Well! She's pretty nimble, isn't she?" Alma commented with a smile. "Zeph, Cosmic Power!" Waiting for the wild Pokémon to come down, Zeph boosted his defense and special defense, enduring the following Bounce with ease.

"Alright, use Psychic this time!" Zeph concentrated on his psychic power, and shoved Mienfoo in the snow with the heavy hit. The fighting type was quite weakened, but unwilling to give up retaliated with U-Turn. However, she was starting to lose steam, panting heavily after the hit.

"It's almost over! Use Psychic again!" Mienfoo tried to endure the hit, but was knocked back and fell in the snow. Alma ran up to check on her after withdrawing Zeph. The wild Pokémon slowly rose to her feet, greatly weakened and on the brink of KO, and seeing Alma she bowed to her with respect.  
"Oh... do you want to join the team?" The trainer asked. Mienfoo nodded vigorously. Alma smiled and nodded, taking out a Pokéball and gently pressing it to the fierce fighting type's head to catch her. "You're going to be a great asset to the team, I can tell! I'll call you Seira." she mused, taking back the ball with Mienfoo inside.

After that successful capture, she went back to the B&B to get dinner and go to sleep. For once that she wasn't stressing about the gym or recent events, she found her mind wandering to more pleasant places, enjoying the simple flavor of a home cooked meal and a cozy night watching TV.  
She dozed off soon after, plunging in a dreamless sleep.

The following day, Alma decided to pass some time in Route 8 and in the Moor of Icirrus to hang out with her Pokémon and maybe train her new member for a bit. After all, she wanted Seira to get comfortable with her team.  
The weather was considerably warmer this time around – the sun had come out, dispersing the clouds and clearing the sky. Even if it was still cold, it wasn't snowing or freezing anymore.

She got out her new Mienfoo for a bit of training, and the Pokémon immediately started looking around for new challengers. "We'll face any trainers we encounter, I promise. Just be patient, ok?" Seira nodded, but Alma noticed she didn't stop looking for any new challengers. She just became stealthier while doing it.

While they walked, Seira apparently noticed something or someone because she ran forward. "Huh? Seira, wait up!" Alma managed to catch up to her Pokémon despite the snow making it difficult to keep her balance, and she finally noticed what she was looking at. Or rather, who.  
"Angie!" Angela turned and Alma saw her with her Pokémon, a fierce looking Mienshao. "Oh, so that's who you were looking at!" The trainer chuckled, scooting up Seira. The Mienfoo was looking at her evolution in awe. "Don't worry, you'll become strong just like her eventually."

Angela smiled at Alma. "Hello there! Didn't expect to see you here. Did you beat Ryo already?" "Well... not exactly. I came here to rest for a bit and maybe get in some extra training and quality time with Seira." "Seira? Oh, you mean this little girl! Man, I remember when Shun was still a Mienfoo..." she patted her Mienshao's back, and then withdrew him to Seira's disapproval.

"Yeah. I've been taking some days off to think about things, and to rest up. What about you? What brings you to Route 8?" Alma asked. "Well, I've been tasked to check up on Opelucid City, talk to Maxime to make sure everything's alright and then I'm going to hang out with Miria for a bit."  
Alma looked at her cute orange sweater and pink trousers. "Oh, I was wondering about that! You look really pretty for crossing an icy marsh like this one."

Angela blushed slightly. "Yeah, well, I didn't dress up for the marsh, but for later." For a second, Alma didn't get it, then she connected the dots. "Oh! So with that time with you and Miria at the cafè... are you two dating?" "Not yet, but I can't deny I like her quite a bit." Alma's eyes lit up. "Would you look at you! I'm so happy for you!" "Shush! It's not official yet. You're making me blush."

The other girl chuckled. "Alright, I'll stop teasing." "What about you? Have you set your sight on anyone yet?" Angela retorted, a playful glint in her eyes. "Whaaa? I could never." "You could never, huh? I saw how cute you looked at the cafè. There was someone there you were interested in too, right? Is it Daku? I heard he's really popular."

Alma shook her head. "Angie! He's just a friend!" "Then what about Ryo? Did his cool demeanor pierce your heart?" Alma couldn't help but blush and clear her throat. "Let's change the subject, shall we?" "You started it first! But alright, I'll stop teasing. I do want to know everything about it if something ever happens, though."  
Alma chuckled. "Of course! You're my best friend, after all. I will let you know."

She looked at Angela. "Mind if I walk with you for a while? I could use some company." "Of course, I don't mind." Alma looked at her Mienfoo. "Seira, shall we go with her? We'll train later too." The fighting type shrugged. As long as there were fights involved, she didn't care whether it was earlier or later.

"I haven't seen Maxime in a while." Angela commented, an easy smile on her face. "I hope she's doing well." "You know her well?" "She's a good friend of the professor and an incredibly active woman in her city, so yes, we did have quite a few run-ins. Her gym was fairly challenging as well, so it was a nice encounter overall." Alma nodded. She knew Angela had beaten all eight gyms, but she hadn't ended up taking the Elite Four challenge. She wasn't interested in becoming the champion as much as exploring the region and working for the professor.

"I see. I thought you were going to Opelucid to check up on whether any new terrorist attacks had occured, since you were working with that too with the professor, if I'm not mistaken."  
Angela furrowed her brow. "Well, that's the weird thing. The terrorists seem to have... disappeared from the face of Unova. I'm frankly more worried about what that really means than anything, though. I don't think that's a good sign. It's more of a worrying sign. And coupled with recent events..."

Alma nodded. "That paints a worrying picture. I don't understand why they'd go away." "Maybe they have fulfilled their purpose, though. The region was compromised, security has been increased all around... Unova is in a very vulnerable state. I suppose that was the goal of whoever masterminded the attacks."  
Angela's eyes narrowed. "Unfortunately, without any damning proof, we can't point fingers, so the solution to that problem is still far from sight, it seems. We only have scraps to work with, as of now." "I see."

There were too many questions and too few answers, so Alma decided to drop the subject as silence fell between them. "What about you, Alma? How has the journey been treating you so far?" "Well, I've had a rough patch recently, but I can say I feel a little better. I took some time off the gym challenge due to burnout and feeling miffed lately."

"As you should. Taking a break was the right decision. I've had quite a few rough patches during my journey as well, and Unova wasn't quite as eventful as it was lately." "Eventful is certainly a way to put it..." Alma chuckled. "Well, if I was to say "confusing and frustrating" it would've sounded a bit too tragic, don't you think? I pride myself on trying to look at the bright side while still being grounded in reality."

Alma nodded. "And that's a thing I respect a lot about you. I wish I had that kind of mental fortitude as well sometimes." "We're all different, Alma. I respect you as well, and think you're doing great." Angela smiled at her. "Looks like we're at the gates of Opelucid. See you next time, yeah?" "Yeah. Have a nice day!" "You too!"

As Alma waved goodbye to Angela, she looked at Seira who was eyeing her expectantly. "Alright, we're going to get some training in and make you the strongest Mienshao the region has ever seen!" "Foo!" The fighting type jumped up happily, ready to give it her best in her training, and seeing her be so determined inspired Alma as well.

* * *

After being allowed inside by the gym's assistant, Leon knocked on Ryo's private room. "Come in!" he heard him, and as he entered he found the gym leader sitting on his chair waiting for him. "Ryo. I hope you've been doing well." "I have, thank you. It's an honor to receive your visit, professor."

The professor smiled, looking around. The gym leader's private room was cozy and pretty spacious.  
A collection of Umbreon and Absol plushies were gathered on the shelf, probably fair trophies. There were some posters of past Icirrus gym leaders and indie pop bands and at least 15 Pokéballs on the shelf, all labeled with different names.

"Thank you for accepting to see me on such short notice. Recent events have been developing at a very fast pace, and I need to talk to gym leaders to assess the situation." Ryo raised an eyebrow. "Pardon my ignorance, but isn't it easier to talk to all of us during the gym leader council? You're an important figure in the region, professor, so it wouldn't be all too difficult to get our attention."  
"Yes, but this is a delicate matter, which is why I prefer to address you privately."

Ryo nodded. "I understand. Go on." "I trust you're familiar with recent developments, and the raid on the Nacrene secret terrorist base." "I am, as a matter of fact." "Then I must ask you this: what is your relationship with Ester?"  
Ryo's eyes widened. "That's... that came out of left field, professor." "I know, but I've been informed of the fact that you two used to be pretty close, and that is precisely why I'm asking you this question. What I'm about to say might be very difficult to swallow."

Ryo took a deep breath. Leon could see his defenses had gone up just by his tone of voice, noticeably colder than before. "We... we were childhood friends. As of now, I am not aware of the extent of our relationship. She was a very important person to me, I can tell you that. Does that answer your question?"  
Leon felt a tinge of guilt. He seemed to have opened a can of worms he didn't want to open, but he needed to press on if he wanted answers.

"I'm sorry for prying, but recent events have led me to suspect that Ester might be implicated in the terrorist attacks, and after more research and talking to Tom as well, I'm fairly certain that she at least financed them and gave them weapons." Ryo didn't reply, his red eyes suddenly unreadable. Leon found that to be more worrying than a fit of anger, though.

"Go on." his tone was still neutral. "Well, I came to talk of you to know whether you know something about it. As you know, Ester has been in the forefront against terrorist action, so I can't just throw around my suspects in a gym leader council and not expect some sort of retaliation. That is why I came, and that is why I addressed Tom and Dimitri about it as well. They didn't confirm nor deny anything, but they admitted to working for her at a certain point in time."

Ryo looked at him. "So you came to ask me whether I'm close to an alleged terrorist leader or I am associated with terrorists?" "That's about it, yes."  
Ryo scoffed. "That was incredibly foolish of you, professor. If Ester and I were working together, I would've relayed the information to her and you would've been in deep trouble."  
He stood up. "Professor, I am Icirrus City's gym leader. My duty is to the people, and to protect them from whatever causes them harm. I gave my full attention to the terrorist investigation. I wouldn't dream of working with them in a hundred years."

Ryo paused. "But the fact that you came here with such heavy accusations is worrying. What's the extent of your research?" "I looked into her business deals, her and her company's history, and I found a worrying trend of squashing the competition and seizing control of more and more of Unima's economy. The terrorist attacks would only be a way to accelerate a process that had already started five years ago."

Ryo looked at Leon thoughtfully. "Is that why the monopoly issue was brought up at the last gym leader council?" "Yes. I was the one to bring it up. I mostly did it to test the waters and rattle Ester, though." The dark type gym leader sighed. "This is... a complicated matter. But I will take your words into consideration. If after further research I'll come to the conclusion that Ester might indeed be behind recent events, well... I'll act accordingly."

Leon nodded. It wasn't a full promise of collaboration, but he was relieved to hear that at least Ryo was considering his words and going to look into it. It was already better than Tom's outright refusal to cooperate and Dimitri's nervous denial.  
"Thank you, Ryo. That was very mature of you. I'm sorry I've been so forceful in my approach."

The gym leader shook his head. "It's no problem, professor. I would advise you to be more careful with your words, though. Had I been a little more irritable, I would've closed off immediately and kicked you out. Plus..." he lowered his gaze. "I can't deny that the accusation of my childhood friend being a horrible person and possibly facilitating a mass murder hurts."

"I know that. Dig into it, and draw your own conclusions. I don't want to pry any longer." Leon stated. "I'm going to leave you to it. Thanks for hearing me out." He closed the door behind him, and Ryo finally sighed. "What have you been up to, Ester?" he mused, returning to his desk.

He looked at the picture on it. The photo was a bit faded by the years, but it was taken after one of their family dinners. They had finally convinced Ester to take a photo with them, and she had asked Ryo to be in it too. They looked so happy. And yet the past had never seemed so distant.  
The gym leader looked away thoughtfully, and then opened up his computer.  
He had a bit of digging to do.

* * *

After the mental health break, Alma had never felt more refreshed. She sighed contently, savoring her morning coffee and looking at her schedule. She had gotten a bit of training too, evolving Seira into Mienshao. Playing around with her ability Regenerator was going to be crucial to win the battle against Ryo.

She had planned carefully around everything, especially that pesky Hydreigon, and she felt ready to take on the world. She sent out the team she had chosen for the gym challenge: Seira, Samson and Siegfried. Alma had decided to let Arin sit this one out: it was too risky to bring Simipour, a relatively frail Pokémon with no supereffective coverage that could reliably hit hard.

Seira and Samson, given the right setup, could fare relatively well against Ryo's Pokémon, and Siegfried was for Mandibuzz. After all, she imagined, he wouldn't risk not bringing it knowing how fighting-type reliant her team was, and it gave him coverage against bug types as well.

"Alright! This is going to be a really tough battle, but I want you to know that I trust you guys one hundred percent and we are going to beat him this time!" Alma stated to her three Pokémon. "We're not going to let him and his team best us once more. We will win this. We practiced, we looked for ways to play around him, and we are going to put that into practice and beat him!"

Samson raised his fist in approval, Seira nodded and assumed a battle stance and Siegfried clanged in a way that was probably an agreement, though Alma wasn't really sure. There was no way to tell what the Klinklang was thinking.  
"I'm not going to let him intimidate me. There's no way I'm losing this. I'm done playing around. I'll get this badge and get out of this slump." Alma said, more to herself than her Pokémon.

She felt something on her hands and saw Samson had gotten close to her, holding her hand and nodding. "We're going to do it. I have faith in you guys." Alma took a deep breath and got out her Xtransceiver, dialing Ryo's number.  
It rang for a bit before he picked up. "Hi, Alma." "Hello, Ryo! Are you free for a gym challenge as soon as possible?" "Well, I'm not doing anything important, so sure, I am."

He chuckled. "You seem pretty fired up. I'm glad you're feeling better." "I am. In no small part thanks to the break you suggested." "Huh, turns out I do have good ideas from time to time then." Ryo said nonchalantly. Alma laughed. "See you in a bit, then?" "Sure. I'll wait for you."

Alma hung up, withdrew her Pokémon and went to wash her face and get ready. The fight ahead of her was going to be difficult, but she was ready.  
"This time, I won't hesitate."  
She headed to the gym. The assistant greeted her and motioned for her to come inside, where Ryo was waiting.

The gym leader was as stone faced and cold as the last two times, but she could feel his determination and resolve from across the room. Winning this round was not going to be easy at all, but she was ready to give it her best.  
"Welcome to the gym challenge. You already know the rules. Are you ready?"  
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." Alma replied, her Pokéballs tightly nested in her hand.

Ryo smirked, getting out his first Pokéball. "Then let us begin."


	16. Song of light and darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Alma tries her luck against Ryo one more time after her break. Feeling confident, she's sure she'll finally have a breakthrough. But the real challenges have just begun for her, and she's faced with a harsh reality when she sees Ester's true colors at last._

Ryo led off with his Liepard, a Pokémon which Alma had never seen him use before. Seira was sent out by Alma, and she stood proudly in the center of the arena, ready to destroy her opponents.  
Things, however, did not start that well. "Saya, Thunder Wave!" Ryo ordered. "High Jump Kick!" Unfortunately, Liepard was faster (and even if she wasn't, Alma had the creeping suspect she had Prankster) and the electric type move paralyzed Mienshao, who was immobilized for the turn and didn't manage to get the attack off.

Alma's eyes narrowed. Ryo would've probably used the occasion to set up, because from that range of health even a super effective hit wouldn't have KO'd, and her prediction paid off. "Hone Claws!" he ordered. "Psych Up!" Ryo's eyes widened as right after Liepard set up, Mienshao copied her buffs, increasing her own attack and accuracy. Alma smiled. "Nice buffs! I'll take them." "You cheeky-" Ryo chuckled. "Fine, then. Saya, Aerial Ace!" "Seira, Drain Punch!"

Even while boosted, Aerial Ace didn't manage to KO in one hit, and Seira got most of her health back with Drain Punch, KOing her frail opponent in the process. Ryo withdrew his Liepard with a chuckle. "Let's see how you fair against her. Go, Maki!" The Mandibuzz came out of her Pokéball, shrieking menacingly. This time, Alma knew for sure it was the real Mandibuzz – she doubted Ryo would've pulled the same trick with Zoroark twice, or didn't bring Hydreigon to the fight.

"Brave Bird!" "Peace out with U-Turn!" Alma knew that if Seira would've gotten paralyzed that turn, it would've probably spelled her doom – fortunately, the Mienshao came through and managed to tank the supereffective hit, damaging Mandibuzz and coming back to Alma. With Regenerator, Seira would've been in decent condition to fight against Ryo's next Pokémon, but she had no real damaging moves against Mandibuzz.

Alma sent out Siegfried, her answer to the flying type Pokémon. She knew, however, that she couldn't take out the bird without setting up – therefore, she ordered Siegfried to use Shift Gear, but Ryo just smiled and shook his head. "Setting up isn't going to work. Whirlwind!" Alma scoffed as Siegfried was forced out, and Samson entered the battle, looking a bit confused.

"Yeah, sorry, it wasn't your time yet but we'll make it work." Alma said to her Scrafty. He nodded and faced his opponent. "What, did I rattle you by forcing you to switch?" Ryo taunted her. "Not at all. Come at me with all you've got!" the trainer replied. "Samson, use Stone Edge!" "Roost!" Alma scoffed as Mandibuzz got all of her HP back before getting hit by a neutral Stone Edge due to Roost's secondary effect.

As Mandibuzz went back in the air, Ryo ordered her to use Iron Defense. Knowing that she had no real way of facing the flying threat with Scrafty, Alma decided to force her out. "Samson, use Dragon Tail!" The dark gym leader looked a bit surprised as Scrafty phazed out the Mandibuzz and forced out his third Pokémon, Hydreigon.

"You even gave your Scrafty Dragon Tail! I'm impressed." Ryo chuckled. "But I'm not going to let you off the hook that easily. Dia, Focus Blast!" "Samson, please, hang on and use High Jump Kick!" She knew if only she could hit that powerful move against Hydreigon, she could've KOed it with Scrafty's high attack and base power. Samson braced himself for the impact and managed to hang on with a little bit of health.

"Yes!" Alma rejoiced, but it was short lived as even with the powerful super effective move, Hydreigon hung on with a sliver of health. "Wha... you're kidding me. She took a High Jump Kick?" Alma's eyes widened. Ryo smirked. "She's a special one, isn't she? Finish him off with a Dragon Pulse!" Samson was knocked out by the dragon type move, and Alma started sweating.

Hydreigon was fast. She couldn't afford to weaken Klinklang with a Focus Blast with Mandibuzz still alive and healthy, and Seira was paralyzed, slowing her down... her only hope was she surviving a hit, somehow, and then not getting fully paralyzed. She recalled Samson. "Great job, Samson. Come back!" Alma got out Seira's Pokéball. "I believe in you. Please come through."

The Mienshao, weakened but relatively healthy due to Regenerator's healing, stared down the dragon. "Dia, Dragon Pulse!" "Seira, U-Turn!" Hydreigon charged up and blasted the fighting type with her powerful move. After getting hit, Seira fell to the ground, and Alma feared for the worst.

"Please, Seira! You've got to get up!" Panting heavily, greatly damaged and paralyzed, Seira despite all odds managed to stand up and land the hit against Hydreigon, netting Alma the KO and coming back to her Pokéball to heal. "Ho... holy..." Alma was still panting heavily when she sent out Siegfried.

"I thought your Pokémon was doomed there. Guess she's as persistent as you are proving to be." Ryo chuckled, recalling Dia. "Good job, dear. Rest up." He sent out Mandibuzz, and the two Pokémon stared each other down. Well, as much as a Klinklang can stare someone down.

'Only that hellish bird stands between me and victory. I can do it.' she inhaled deeply, trying to steady her nerves. "Siegfried, use Wild Charge!" "Roost!" Klinklang rushed down the flying type, only to see her refull herself with Roost. She gritted her teeth, looking at Ryo's defiant expression. "We're playing that game, huh? Well, I'm not letting you. Shift Gear!"

Under Shift Gear's threat, Mandibuzz had to either whirlwind him out or eat a boosted Wild Charge – as Alma had imagined, Ryo ordered Maki to Whirlwind, forcing out Alma's Mienshao. Even after Regenerator, there was no way the fighting type could've tanked a Brave Bird, but even if her opponent tried to set up, Seira would've U-Turned out and forced Mandibuzz into a sticky situation.

Ryo realized that as well. "Brave Bird!" Mandibuzz flung herself at Seira, finally KOing her and damaging herself in the process. "You were amazing. Come back." Alma sent out Siegfried, and with Mandibuzz having roughly half her health, she knew it was over. Ryo knew it too.  
"Wild Charge!" she ordered her Klinklang. "Brave Bird." he said with a smile.

Brave Bird did negligible damage to the steel type, and after another Wild Charge, Mandibuzz was finally KO. With that, Alma had won the battle.  
For a good few seconds, she stood there, unable to process her victory as Siegfried floated up to her. She recalled him, still in shock, and she heard clapping. She raised her eyes and saw that Ryo was smiling at her. "Congratulations. That was an amazing battle. Dare I say... the best I've had in a long while."

As soon as she heard those words, Alma finally broke down. She exhaled a long, deep breath she didn't even know she was holding, tears of joy welling up in her eyes. "I won!" "You sure did." Ryo gave her the badge and the TM for Dark Pulse, and she took both of them, still bewildered.  
"Man... that was the toughest gym battle I've ever had. You're insane." she commented, shaking her head. "And yet look at you. You forced me on the back foot during the battle... several times. You made some really good plays as well."

"I think I'm about to faint." she joked. Ryo didn't catch the playful tone and tilted his head. "Please don't. I mean, I would catch you, but..." "Ryo, I was... I was joking." "Oh." he chuckled. "I apologize. I didn't catch that. I'm still a bit woozy from the battle." "Oh, so _you're_ the woozy one!" Alma shook her head. "You're a handful, you know that? I think I'm going to sleep for like four days after that."

Ryo shook his head. "That might be a bit much." His tone, however, had shifted to a more thoughtful one, and Alma noticed the change. "Are you alright? It seems you have something on your mind." "You noticed? Ah, it's nothing to be worried about." Alma raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't look like it from your expression. Want to talk about it?" "If you're up for it..." "Of course! You've helped me when I was in need. It's only right for me to do the same." "Alright then. Come with me."

He led her to his private room, and Alma entered the room, marvelling at the posters and his plushie collection. "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you were a plushie fan" Alma joked. Ryo chuckled. "Some of those are limited edition. You can take a look if you'd like." "I'd love to later, but we didn't come here for that, right?" "Right, right. I'll fill you in on what's been happening lately."

Ryo sat on a chair near his office. "So I've been doing some digging into Ester, her company and recent events after receiving a tip of her being implicated in some way with the terrorists and their recent disappearance."  
He tapped his fingers on the desk. "I've found some pretty interesting records and missing documents, and even though I was unable to find any confirmation of ties between her and terrorists, the timeline between the terrorists emerging from the shadows and her biggest business deals does line up. I don't want to suspect the worst, but these two might be connected."

Alma blinked slowly. "So you're saying Ester might be implicated with terrorists?" "I don't know. As I said, it's very hazy. Plus... you know. Ester used to be a dear friend of mine. I don't know if I want to go there." His tone was more somber than usual, and she understood that the issue was troubling him quite a lot.

"That's... well. I understand why that would trouble you. She seems to be very dear to you. I've talked to her a few times. She seemed alright, if not a bit scary..." Alma commented. Ryo nodded. "She can be very intimidating if she wants to be." He lowered his gaze. "But I would never expect her to be quite this cruel. Insensitive, maybe. Cruel? I don't know. Maybe she just never showed this side to me. I know she changed quite a lot after her father died and she got a hold of her company."

He sighed, taking the photo of the two of them between his hands. "She was always so lonely. No one really seemed to pay attention to her in her house. It was as if she was invisible. I know that hurt her quite a bit." "How did you two know each other?" He smiled. "My uncle was her financial advisor, so we used to hang out during family dinners and such. I'd often come over to her house. You saw the huge villa near my gym, right?"

Alma nodded and he went on. "Well, it was where me and Ester used to hang out a lot. She moved to Castelia later, but for whatever reason she's back in Icirrus. I was thinking about going to talk to her. Try to figure out what's wrong. Maybe I can get a better grasp on what's been happening these years."  
Ryo's expression changed. "Of course, if she has become a threat to Unova's security, I'll have to act accordingly. Friend or not, my duty as a gym leader is to protect Unova. If she did cooperate with terrorists... that would be enough to put her behind bars forever."

Alma looked at him. "You talk like this, yet... you don't look 100% convinced." "Of course I'm not, Alma. I'm also a person, and as such, I have flaws and soft spots. Ester is definitely one of mine." he sighed. "But in order to understand what the best course of action is from here on out, I want to talk to her, and then I'll make up my mind. If she's a threat to our security, well... it'll be a harsh blow, but I'll need to take a stand against her. I can't let my feelings get in the way of protecting everyone. That's dangerous and reckless."

Alma thought about it for a while. She saw the distress on his face, and made a decision. "Alright, then. I'm coming with you." He looked at her, bewildered. "What?" "I want to help, and I want to understand what's going on too. If I'm not a burden, I'd like to come with you when you talk to her."  
Ryo shook his head. "Alma, I don't know. As I said, I don't know how she'll react, and I don't want to take any risks. It could be dangerous." "I don't think she'll hurt me. We talked before, plus she has no reason to, right?"

The dark type gym leader lowered his gaze. "That's true, but still..." "You don't have to do this alone. Let me help you, Ryo." she said, taking his hand. He looked at her. "Fine. But you have to promise you won't say or do anything reckless." "I promise." "Ok, then. Let's meet tomorrow after lunch at the gym, let's say... at two in the afternoon?" "Fine by me."

The following day, Alma dressed in the most simple and elegant clothes she could find (going into a mansion, she wanted to be dressed with the due respect) and joined Ryo at the gym. "Are you ready?" he asked her. She nodded. "Then let's go." They headed out, and after a short walk they reached the mansion. Alma gulped seeing the sheer size of the building and the two guards at the entrance.

Ryo approached them. "Hello. May I talk to Ester?" One of the guard's eyes narrowed. "What for? Business inquiries? Publicity? Public relations?" Ryo raised his hands. "No, none of that! Just... talk. As a friend." The other guard scoffed. "She doesn't take _friends_ as a pretext to enter. Go away."  
He closed his eyes, then scoffed. "Fine. I'm Icirrus City's gym leader. I'll _let her know_ you refused to let me enter."

The guards looked at each other. "Well... if that's the case... we'll let her know you're coming. What about the young lady behind you?" "She's with me." he simply replied. The guards talked on the phone for a short while, then one of them nodded. "You can enter. Our mistress is waiting for you in her office inside."

As they entered, Alma marveled at the huge garden. "It looks really nice!" she stated. "You should see it in spring. All kinds of flowers used to bloom here. We'd hang out on the swing, watch the fishes in the lake..." Ryo seemed lost in thought for a while after that. He simply guided Alma by her hand inside the big mansion, overflowing with servants and busy people on the phone.

While walking through long, spacious halls, Alma felt an uneasy, cold sensation creeping in her bones. Everyone seemed so caught up in their own work, and the mansion, despite being huge and busy, was so... "This place feels empty." she finally whispered to Ryo. He nodded. "That hasn't changed." "Has it always been this way?" "Yes, for as long as I can remember. This isn't a pleasant place to live in. Despite being so beautiful, it feels cold and lifeless. And I fear..." he sighed. "Nevermind. Let's get a move on."  
Alma squeezed his hand a little tighter, feeling comfort in his warmth.

When they finally reached her office, Ryo knocked on the door. "Come in." He opened the door, and they were greeted by the billionaire, looking as dazzling as ever even in a simple black suit and pants with a white shirt underneath.  
She motioned to the chairs near the desk where she was sitting.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable." They both complied, and Alma shivered slightly as Ester's gaze pierced through her. Ryo didn't seem as rattled, but his eyes betrayed a glimpse of uneasiness.  
"Ester. It's been a while." The dark type gym leader finally broke the silence. "Indeed. It has been." Ester looked at her watch. "I'm going to give you twenty minutes of my time. Given the circumstances of our encounter and the short notice you gave me, that's pretty generous, don't you think?"

Ryo seemed to be about to say something, but he decided against it. She smiled and went on. "Ah, but I seem to have forgotten my manners. Perhaps you'd enjoy some coffee or some freshly brewed tea? I can get you whatever flavors you want." "I'm good, thanks." "So am I." Alma replied.  
"That's nice, because I have no idea what you are doing here." Ester looked at her. Alma couldn't hold her gaze for more than a few seconds.

"She came with me, Ester. Please don't put her on the spot like that." Ryo stepped in, his tone more stern. Ester chuckled. "Oh, Ryo! You seem to be so protective of this little girl. That's cute. I'm happy for you. The truth is, I couldn't care less why she's here. So, what did you want to talk about?"

He took a second to recollect himself. "Ester, I've heard some pretty heavy accusations about you lately. We haven't talked in a while, but I wanted to better understand the situation and hear your perspective on the matter." "Oh?" Ester's eyes narrowed. "What kind of accusations?" She looked at Ryo with an intensity that made Alma want to hide. Even so, the gym leader held her gaze.

"Where to begin? Your politics of assimilating everything under your name, with legal or slightly less legal procedures. The allegations of you silencing the opposition by whatever means necessary. Even worse, your allegations of working with terrorists."  
He took a deep breath. "Ester, those are very heavy allegations. And frankly speaking, I don't want to believe them. What is your response to all of this?"

She closed her eyes and stood up, heading to the window. "Even after hearing all of this, you came here to talk to me?" Ryo sighed. "Yes. I came here to talk to you because I wanted to understand. To make sense of all of this." "I see."  
She looked at him. "That's really idealistic of you. And really foolish. Unless, of course, you are registering this entire conversation and want to have proof of what I've said."

Ryo tensed up, and Ester smiled. "Ah, Ryo, darling. As you should very well know, I'm not new to this." He sighed. "Seems like I've underestimated you again." "Seems like it. Come on, give it to me so we can talk properly." He gave her a recorder which he had hidden inside his jacket, and she turned the microphone in it off.

For a bit, there was a tense atmosphere between them. Ryo didn't talk, his expression was unreadable, and Alma put her hand on his to comfort him. "Are you okay?" she asked in a whisper. He looked at her and shook his head sadly. Alma felt her spirit waver. Even if she had accompanied him until that point, she realized just how powerless she truly felt.

Finally, Ester broke the silence. "I'm going to tell you both a story. A little story about myself and what my plans for the future really are." She took a deep breath, sitting on her chair again. "The road to the top is a very lonely one. One filled with obstacles and people wanting nothing more than to tear you down. It is a road that only an individual with great strength and mental fortitude can walk."

She tapped her finger on the desk. "Truth be told, it's a road that requires loads of sacrifices, but the one reaching the end of it can see a light that no one else can see."

"From the moment I was born, absolutely no one believed in me. I had to carve my own path, and even though I was the de facto heir of my family empire, even though I worked so very hard, no one seemed to see that." Ester took a deep breath.  
"I studied in school for some kind of recognition, anything, but it felt hollow. It all felt insignificant. Nothing seemed to matter. Nothing had flavor or life to it."

She smiled, looking around the room. The recent renovations had completely changed her father's room into her office: cold and efficient, with every trace of its old owner removed. "My father's death was the greatest gift someone could give to me. I finally realized that I was enough. I didn't need him, or anyone else for that matter. When my uncle tried to pry away my inheritance from me, I fought. I fought hard. And I won against people who sat at the top of the ladder. From then on, I could only go higher. So I did."

She looked at Alma, and she was both terrified and mesmerized by her deep green eyes. "I kept pushing for more. I kept pushing both myself and my limits for more money. More power. To stand at the top of the ladder, to forge a world where the values of the strong would be upheld." Her look was of both contempt and pity, there was no love to be found, and yet Alma couldn't look away.

"I don't intend to crush the weak. I have no use for them, nor do I like spilling blood for no reason. I want to push for a world where no one will be ignored if they work hard. If the path to greatness means sacrificing some lives to reach them, I shall do so. And that is because I will ultimately pursue a greater good, for I have seen the truth unsullied by the lies of sentimentality and weakness."

Ryo cringed. "Ester... please. You're lying to yourself. You need an emotional crutch. Destroying all of your emotions to pursue a dystopia that you know will ruin Unova is only going to end up in tragedy." She looked at him, sadly shaking her head. "Ryo. You've always been big on feelings and trust, and yet you didn't trust me today."

He scoffed. "Can you blame me? I turn around for a minute and you start making megalomaniac claims in front of my face. Of course I'm not going to trust that." She smiled. "Fair point. What about this, then?" She caressed his face, and whispered to him: "Join me. I know how strong you are. I know you long for power, for more, I see that in the dark and twisted way you like to tear down your challengers in your gym challenge to make them stronger. You've always pushed yourself to your limits. I love that about you, and would love to have that by my side."

Ryo looked absolutely heartbroken. He gently pushed her hand away. "You know I can't." he whispered. "Both as a gym leader and as a person, I can't in good faith support plans that would entail sacrificing anyone to benefit a single person."  
He held Ester's hand, and Alma saw her expression soften for a second. "Please. Don't do this. It will only end badly for you. You can still turn back."

Ester's eyes showed an emotion that Alma hadn't seen throughout their encounters: genuine hurt. "I'm not going to turn back now, Ryo. It's regrettable, and I would've rather had you by my side than as an enemy, but I've been on this path for a long, long time. I've sacrificed too much. If our visions are incompatible, then as far as I'm concerned this is farewell."

Ryo lowered his gaze. "Is there no other way I can convince you to change your mind?" She shook her head. "I'm afraid not." He inhaled. "I see. Let's go, Alma."  
Ester looked at her, and Alma suddenly felt chills. "I fear she won't be coming with you anytime soon." Ryo's eyes widened. "What?" "I'm going to hold the young lady to chat with her for a little while longer. You're free to go – she stays."

"You're kidding me!" "I'm not. Guards, please escort him outside." "ALMA!" Ryo turned to look at Alma one last time before he was pulled away by the guards and she couldn't hear his voice anymore.  
When left alone with Ester, she felt a primal fear welling up inside her. Her heartbeat suffocated everything else, thumping so hard she could almost hear it overwhelming her thoughts.

"Alma." Ester's voice sounded more like a command than anything else. She istinctively straightened up. "Yes?" "You looked terrified, and yet you tried so hard to put on a brave face to... well, support Ryo, I presume. Now you're alone with me. Are you afraid?" She felt like she couldn't really lie in that circumstance.  
"A little" she admitted, chuckling nervously to try to hide her fear, to no avail.

Ester's eyes suddenly turned cold. "Hmph. I despise people like you. Bright, cheerful, deliciously unaware of the world around them, naive to a fault... though I suppose that's not completely your fault, given your age." "I... I..." "Don't waste your breath trying to defend yourself. Frankly put, I don't really care about you. I just despise your delusions of grandeur. I think I kind of want to squash them."

She stood up. "You're insignificant to me, Alma. And you'll soon discover you're insignificant to the rest of the world as well. You're little more than a worker ant, skittering away to a measly end. You chase your dreams of becoming "Champion"... which is little more than a honorary title to make your parents happy. A paper badge you can wear on your shirt to feel proud and puff your chest while you walk."

"People like you can never hope to change the world. They will be stuck in their self-satisfactory circle, indulging in their little joys and chasing a flimsy sense of accomplishment until the day the die." Alma shook her head, managing to speak despite her mounting sense of terror. "You're wrong. People like us can change the world. If we band together, and we work hard to inspire others, we can forge a path to a better future. We might be small and insignificant now, but we can grow stronger and together, we can work towards a better world."

Ester sneered. "How adorable." She walked up to her with a condescending smile, cupping her chin and forcing her to stare into her cold eyes. "You've been so throughly brainwashed by your own unyielding optimism, you've forgotten what reality looks like. Allow me to demonstrate."  
She let her go and took out a Dusk Ball.

"Come on out, Percival." Alma gasped as a Virizion came out of the ball. The legendary Pokémon landed on the office floor with elegance and poise, and as soon as he locked eyes with the trainer she saw his expression become cold and relentless. Ester stroked his back. "He's my most prized catch. My pride." she purred, as the Virizion closed his eyes and let himself be pet.

"What about this, Alma? Let's battle. If you knock him out, you win. You can use your full team, I don't care. I'm only going to use him. Let's see how your words hold up against the reality of things." she smiled, her voice colored with poisonous sweetness. "You're... you're challenging me to a 6v1?" "Alma, do you have a hearing impairment of sorts? Yes. I am."

Alma swallowed. Either Ester was extremely confident she was going to win, or she was straight out insane. Judging by her previous monologue, it could've been either way.  
"Alright then. I'll take your challenge." The billionaire smiled. "Excellent. Go on, Percival. Make me proud."

As the Virizion trotted on the battlefield, Alma shot a hesitant look at Ester. "Are you sure we should fight here? There's not enough space for-" "There's more than enough space. Stop worrying about such trivial things and send out your Pokémon." The trainer sent out her first Pokémon, Sigilyph. Starting off with the type advantage, she hoped to at least damage it for the rest of the team to handle, but her hopes were killed as quickly and swiftly as he hit the field.

"Air Slash!" "Percival, you don't need me to tell you what to actually do, right? You can handle this." Virizion nodded and hit a Stone Edge before Sigilyph could actually use a move, startling Alma as the psychic bird fell lifeless to the ground. "God..." Suddenly, she was really terrified of that Virizion. He looked at her, and she saw just how badly he wanted to destroy her.

Alma swallowed and sent out Rouge, her Chandelure. "Fire Blast!" she ordered. Ester didn't even bother giving his Pokémon orders – another Stone Edge, and her ghost type was down too. Her opponent was hitting his moves with mechanical precision, without even moving from his spot. She was starting to understand why the billionaire had challenged her so casually.

"Seira, come out!" The Mienshao came out, and as soon as she looked at her opponent, she seemed to understand she was completely outmatched. "High Jump Kick!" As Seira flew towards Virizion, he merely sidestepped the hit, watched her crash and indifferently KOed her with Giga Drain.  
'God... he could've moved first too. He's just mocking me at this point.' Alma realized, a sense of mounting dread and defeat.

She sent out Siegfried next. "Gear Grind" the more the battle went on, the more Alma's tone seemed to shift into resignation, and Ester seemed to revel in that, merely watching on amusedly without giving orders. Percival swiftly KOed Siegfried with Sacred Sword, finally coming to contact with Alma's Pokémon, and she was horrified to see the sheer force of the hit sending Siegfried crashing towards a shelf.

She recalled her Pokémon as Virizion kept looking at her silently, waiting for her next move. "You don't seem well, Alma. Everything alright?" Ester mocked her. "Where's all your talk now?" The trainer lowered her eyes. She couldn't respond. She silently sent out Samson, only for him to get obliterated by Sacred Sword as well.

As she sent out her last Pokémon, she took a deep breath, trying really hard to stop her shaking hand. Arin made his appearance, and as he turned back to look at Alma to wait for her orders, he saw just how broken she looked. As he walked up to her and tried to console her, he was mercilessly hit by Giga Drain and KOed.

The fight was over.  
Ester walked up to Percival and scratched his neck. "Sorry for boring you, dear. I hope you at least stretched your muscles a little bit." The Virizion shrugged and gave Alma a last look of bored contempt before being recalled by the billionaire.  
As Ester finally seemed to acknowledge Alma's presence, she just wanted to disappear. Seeing her team be so brutally destroyed by a single Pokémon, barely even moving or trying, had broken her on such a level that she couldn't even talk.

Ester gave her a pat on the back. "At least you didn't surrender after your first one fainted. I can commend you for that. Oh, and your expression right now is more than enough of a reward to me. Don't even bother giving me your money – your life savings are mere pocket change to me."  
With the battle over, Alma finally broke down. She looked at Ester with contempt. "You did all this just to spite me, didn't you? You're a monster. I can't believe I almost felt sorry for you."

Ester's eyes lit up. "I take it back! _This_ is your best expression. Your puppy rage is adorable, really. It makes you almost worth my time. _Almost_. You should be angry more often." She paused, eyeing her with newfound interest. "This feeling of worthlessness? Of complete, utter, crushing defeat? Revel in it, Alma. It's going to make you stronger. Maybe in a hundred years you'll come close to grovelling at my feet instead of at the bottom of the pyramid."

Ester waved at her dismissively. "Now go. I've had my fun playing with you, but it's time to say goodbye. And, would you look at that! our twenty minutes have passed. I'm perfectly on schedule."  
Alma didn't say anything else. She left the room, shoved away the guards that attempted to escort her to the exit, and somehow found her way back out.

She found Ryo banging on the door, with the guards at the entrance pushing him out. "Let me IN, goddammit! I'm not leaving till I-" He spotted Alma and his eyes widened. "Alma! Thank goodness. Are you-?" "Let's leave this place." she just replied, taking his hand and walking away, dragging him along.

As the mansion grew more and more distant, Alma wondered whether the tears in her eyes were of despair or pure rage.  
She didn't know which of the two she preferred.


	17. Siren's call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _As Alma struggles to internalize what just happened at Ester's mansion, tension between her and Ryo threaten to drive them apart, right when the two need each other the most to deal with Ester's increasingly dangerous ambitions._

"Hey, Alma. Are you ok? Talk to me." As soon as they exited the mansion's grounds and came back to Ryo's room in the gym, he approached Alma with a worried expression. She wiped away her tears with her arms. "Do I look ok to you?" "No, that's why I'm asking. What happened?" He gave her a tissue and she took it, giving herself a moment to recompose herself.

"Oh, you know. Ester just swept my entire team with one Pokémon, belittled everything I stand for, and made me feel like a piece of worthless junk, but it's ok, I guess." she scoffed. "Alma, I'm so sorry. I had no idea she could be so cruel." "Of course you didn't. She went easy on you."

Ryo looked at her, saddened. "I told you I'm sorry. I was hesitant to let you come, and I had no idea she would dig this deep into you." "Yeah, well, apparently she did. She's a despicable human being, Ryo. I have no idea how she managed to hide it that well for such a long time." The gym leader sighed. "You tell me. I thought I had her figured out, but..."

Alma shook her head. "You had no idea, didn't you? You were the one being coddled by her, with all that "join me" speech." "Alma, calm down, please-" "Calm down? You weren't the one being belittled, bullied and beaten into submission! You were too busy reveling in her caresses and promises of success to notice how I felt! You have absolutely no idea of how it feels to be that powerless!"

Seeing Ryo's hurt expression finally snapped her to her senses as she realized with a shiver just how toxic and downright vicious she was being. "Oh my god. I'm... I'm so sorry. I had no right to say that. I don't know what came over me, I just..."  
He lowered his gaze. "It's okay." he murmured. "I had a severe lapse in judgement. I foolishly believed I could convince her to stop, and that clearly wasn't the case."  
"No, Ryo, it's not your fault. I didn't mean to hurt you, I-" He looked away, his expression somber. "I need a minute."

As she saw him exit the room, her heart sank. "I can't believe I said all those hurtful things to him. He's been nothing but supportive this entire time and I just..." she choked back a whimper, feeling even worse than before.  
She finally noticed the photo on the desk, and looked at it. There were Ryo and Ester smiling together as kids, with Ryo leaning on her shoulder and her trying and failing to keep a serious expression.

Her brain struggled to reconcile that picture with the cold, cruel woman she had seen at the mansion. "How... how can a person be so two-faced?" she wondered, her hands trembling. She felt that overwhelming sense of anger and hatred knocking at her heart again, and she was scared by her negative emotions' intensity.  
It was her first time experiencing such overwhelming negativity. Even when she had been swept by Ryo, it had hurt, but not this much. It was as if Ester's victory and subsequent humiliation had turned into an infected wound, eating away at her positivity and replacing it with a burning shame and thirst for revenge.

She put down the photo, feeling like she was about to pass out from the nauseous feeling she was experiencing. She headed out, looking for the assistant. "Where's Ryo?" Alma asked her. "He headed out. He seemed quite... shaken. Is everything alright?" The trainer had a sinking feeling in her chest. "I... I don't think so. I need to talk to him, but I don't think he wants to hear me out right now."

The assistant's brow furrowed. "I don't think he could either way. He has a challenger coming later and he'll probably be in the gym until this evening." "I see. Thanks." "No problem." The assistant seemed to be about to say something else, but seeing Alma's mood she decided against it.  
The trainer exited the gym, and the cold winds outside lashed at her face. She needed to fix that mess as soon as possible. She couldn't bear to leave things between them like that.

* * *

As Ryo got back from his walk, he didn't feel any better. If anything, the cold weather and obscured sky had exacerbated his bad mood. 'Come on, Ryo, you've got to calm down. There's a challenger coming. You can't go into battle like that.' he thought to himself.  
But try as he might, he couldn't erase the feelings of sadness and bitterness eating away at his chest. The most he could do was not look like he wanted to destroy anyone on sight when he was faced with the challenger.

He was a boy, roughly his same age, clearly brimming with energy and determination. "I'm going to win! Don't think just because you're my seventh gym leader you're going to be anything special!" the boy taunted him. Ryo's eyes narrowed. "Sure. Join me on the battlefield."

What followed was nothing short of a massacre. Ryo led off with Hydreigon, and as the fight went on he didn't even talk to avoid saying anything too mean to the boy standing in front of him, as his opponent's jaw dropped as his precious team got obliterated by the dark dragon.  
He won cleanly, a 3-0 victory, which was not uncommon when he was facing unprepared challengers. As he withdrew his dragon he saw his face reflected in the Pokéball and was unsettled by how cold and merciless he looked.

"Well... that was something." the boy joked, trying to be optimistic even if his team had just been demolished. "Yeah." Ryo wasn't even in the mood to give his usual pep talk, but he tried to anyway. "You should... consider using some more defensive Pokémon and figure out a way to cripple the opponent's win condition in some way, or you risk them destroying you completely. Try to think about an answer to your opponent's strongest Pokémon; if you shut down their ace and bring a balanced team, you can wing most of the battles in your life."

Talking was exhausting, but he needed to maintain at least a professional façade for his job. "I guess you're right. I just went in with some hyper aggressive Pokémon and hoped it could be enough for a victory! Guess that flew out of the window!" "Yeah." Ryo took a deep breath. "You're going to be fine. You just need to work around your teambuilding a little bit. Good luck."

He just wanted out. After he exited the arena, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He saw his assistant holding a tray. "You looked really down, so I made you some vanilla tea." Despite everything, that simple yet caring gesture made him smile. "Thanks, Vanessa. I appreciate it." He took a sip, then sighed as he sat near the desk.

"Pardon my indiscretion, but both you and that girl from before, Alma, looked like you had the most horrible day." Vanessa cautiously stated. "You could say that." he sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm not really in the mood to talk right now. I think I'll just work in my private room." "I'll cover your tasks for today." His eyes widened. "But..." "No buts. You look exhausted, Ryo. Take a day off." "I... thanks. I owe you one."  
Vanessa nodded and watched him as he went back to his room, packing up and preparing to go home.

Ryo's home was not too distant from the gym – he lived there with his father and mother, and after a long day of work he liked relaxing in his room and occasionally spending some quality time with his parents, especially making sure his father was doing ok.

This time, however, he didn't feel up for it. He entered his house, half-heartedly greeted his mother and headed for the stairs to go up to his room. "Darling! You look really tired. Did something happen at work?" his mother called out to him. He turned to look at her. His mother Mitsuki was a really pretty woman, with long black hair and brown eyes – he had gotten the red eyes from his father, but most of his features came from his mother, and he couldn't complain about that.

"I'm fine, mom. Sorry for making you worry, but I just need some alone time right now." "Oh... I see. I'm going to bring you dinner to your room, if you want to." "Thanks, but I'm not hungry." She shook her head. "I insist! I'm going to cook your favorite meal so you can cheer up faster. I don't like seeing my darling boy feeling down!"

He rolled his eyes, but couldn't help smiling. "How's dad?" he asked. Her gaze lowered. "He's fine. He had a bit of a rough night, so he's resting in his room." "I'll go see him once he's rested, then." he hesitated for a bit. "Thanks for trying to make me feel better."  
His mother nodded. "Don't worry. We all have bad days. Rest up, and I'll do the rest." He waved at her and went upstairs to his room.

He threw himself on the bed, allowing both his body and mind a moment to breathe. His room was as cozy as his gym room, if not more, with relics of his past such as indie posters from when he was trying to learn the bass and phosphorescent stars glued to his drawer. The gym leader couldn't help but chuckle a little every time he remembered he used to be really afraid of the dark when he was very small. Ah, how times had changed.

He dialed up Daku's number and after a short while, his friend picked up. "Yo! How are you?" Ryo sighed. "Not that good, actually. Do you have a moment to talk?" "Ooh, is it about Alma?" "Well... yes, partly. It's also about Ester." "Man, you've been busy!" Ryo inhaled deeply. "Daku, sorry, but I'm not in the mood for these kinds of jokes. It's a very serious situation."

His friend's tone immediately shifted. "I apologize. What's the matter?" "You remember how I told you about wanting to talk to Ester, right?" "Yeah, I do." "It didn't go all that well. She basically went on and on about how she's at the top and she's going to change the world... it was like listening to something straight out of a big bad's monologue. I think she's lost her mind."

Daku was surprised to say the least. "Really! So Ester has lost her marbles?" "Seems like it. She tried to convince me to join her, but I didn't want any of that. Especially since she basically confirmed she'd trample everyone who stood in her way." Ryo scoffed. "These recent years have warped her mental state waaay more than I had guessed. The worst thing is I can't even bring myself to want to fight her. The memories of our past hurt way too much."

Daku paused for a second before answering. "You know my stance on that. It's the past, Ryo. You need to let it go." "I know, but... I cared about her for so long and so much, it's really difficult to let go of all of that. She was my dearest friend for a very long while. Seeing her in this state really hurt me. It was like my words couldn't reach her at all." "Well, sounds to me like she has made up her mind."  
Ryo turned in his bed. "Yes, I fear so too. Listening to her is like watching a train crash in slow motion. It's really painful."

"Well, if you want to talk about it in person, I'm up for it, but I've told you what I think. We can't keep clinging to the past, because it will end up hurting more and more as time goes on. But enough of that – I've told you pretty much everything I about that. What about Alma? What happened to her? Did she reject you?"  
"Daku..." "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Is it something else?"

Ryo hesitated. "She... Ester verbally abused her and beat her down once she kicked me out, pretty much. When she got out of that place, it was as if Alma was a completely different person. She was so distressed... when we went back to the gym, I tried to calm her down, but she lashed out at me and accused me of wanting to be involved with Ester and listening to her attempts to sway me."

He paused. "The thing that hurt the most was her lack of trust in me. I can understand her anger, and her sense of powerlessness must've hurt her deeply, but that was still no reason to be so vicious about me supposedly giving in to Ester's words, choosing success and promises over my humanity and telling me how I couldn't understand how it felt to be powerless. That... that cut deep. It felt really like a personal attack. I didn't expect that from her."

Daku was silent for a long while. "Sounds like you've both had a really rough day. I'm so sorry to hear that." "I don't know what to do, Daku. I don't think I'm going to stay angry at her for long, but it still hurt, you know? She should've known better." "Well, I'd say take your time to simmer down and then try to talk it out. I know how much you care about her, I can hear it in how you talk about it, so I'd say you should try to patch things up." the ground gym leader said after a pause, weighing his words to try and give his friend the best advice he could offer.

"I think I'll do that, but I want to do it when I feel better so I don't lash out. I want to address what happened and tell her she hurt me, so she can understand not to do it again." "That's a good idea. You should hear her out but stand your ground. If she made you feel a certain way, you should address it."  
Ryo nodded. "You're right. Thanks for hearing me out, man." "Hey, no problem. All this feelings talk made me hungry, though. Mind if I go grab myself some dinner and then I call you again?"

Ryo laughed. "Sure. I'll call you back once I'm finished with my dinner as well." "Great. You up for some games later tonight to take your mind off things?" "Thanks, but I think I'll pass. I'll rest up to feel better tomorrow." "Fair enough. Enjoy your meal!" "Thanks, you too!"  
As he hung up, his mind wandered off the dark place he had been stuck in for a while and he smiled. Daku always managed to make him feel better.

* * *

"Angie, thank god! I made a horrible mess!" Angela heard the distress in Alma's voice even through the Xtransceiver, and blinked, slightly confused. "Whoa, calm down. What happened? Are you okay?"  
After going back to the B&B, Alma had immediately dialed up Angela's number, needing a friend to comfort her now more than ever.

She filled her in on the events that took place at the mansion. Angela was silent for a long while. "... That's a lot to take in." she finally said. "Yeah..." "Even then, I'm surprised she was that open about Ryo confronting her about the allegations of her working with terrorists."

Alma raised an eyebrow. "You don't sound surprised about that, Angie." "That's because the professor has been suspecting that for a while. After a secret Nacrene raid, we managed to find a prototype Xtransceiver that the terrorists used to communicate, and the professor deduced that it was Tom's equipment. Tom is working for Ester, and she's probably behind the terrorist's sudden rise in power... and at this point, I'm inclined to believe she's behind their recent disappearance, as well."

Alma felt her rage mounting again, finally taking in what all of that meant. "Then... she was the one financing the attack on Castelia. She probably had a hand on the airport attack too. She's the reason for all of this mess. It's all her fault." she felt a burning fury at the billionaire, and her feelings of confusion and fear because of the terrorist situation turned into hatred and thirst for revenge, all directed at a single person.

For a second, she felt the same cold negativity she had felt earlier in the gym, but it slowly deflated once she remembered Ryo's hurt after her words. 'All these negative feelings are going to hurt the people around me if I keep it up... I need to calm down. I'll only end up lashing out at everyone if this goes on.' she realized. "Alma, you went silent for a good while. Are you... are you alright?" she heard Angela's voice through the Xtransceiver.

"I'm shaken, but I'll manage. I also made a horrible mistake..." she explained to Angela what had happened in the gym, how she had lashed out in anger and hurt Ryo. "God... that sounds unlike you. Ester must've really did a number on you." Angela mused. "She did, but that's besides the point. I hurt him. I... I need to apologize, and do better next time. I had no business being this harsh to him, especially since he's always tried so hard to uplift me and make me feel better."

Alma took a deep breath. "I need to find a healthier way to cope with events, otherwise I'll just be playing Ester's game. She wants me to be angry, to hate her. She was just playing with my feelings, and for a hot minute she... she almost got me." Angela nodded. "That's true. But remember that, whatever happens, you have a support system and she doesn't. We'll always be by your side, Alma. And if you make a mistake, own it, apologize and do better next time. This is how someone grows strong."

"Thanks, Angie. I needed that. I guess the stress just bubbled up and... you know. Exploded." "Happens to the best of us. What about this? I'll talk to the professor about the recent developments, and then we can meet up with him and Miria and discuss a plan to counterattack. We won't let Ester win so easily, especially when she dared hurt my darling Alma!"  
Alma blushed. "That's a good idea, yes. If you can ask the professor for help, I'm sure together we can figure something out." "Great, let's do that then. Keep me updated, yes?" "Of course." As the call ended, Alma put away her Xtransceiver.

She needed to patch things up with Ryo as soon as possible, and then they needed to concoct a plan to beat Ester, together.

* * *

The following morning, Ryo woke up feeling a bit better. He had managed to get a decent number of hours of sleep despite everything, and the calls with Daku had helped lift some of the negativity off his chest. He went down the stairs and found his father waiting for him in the kitchen's table.  
"Dad! You're up early." he exclaimed, surprised. He joined him in the kitchen, preparing some coffee for himself.

"Well, yesterday I was in bed for most of the day and I got some rest, so I managed to wake up very early this morning. How are you feeling? Mom told me you had a rough day yesterday as well." Ryo nodded. "Yeah... but I'm feeling better now. I'll grab myself some coffee, eggs and yogurt and I'll be on my way to work."  
"You sure you don't want to take a day off? You've been working nonstop for a while now." his father asked. Ryo shook his head. "No, I'm going anyway. It's fine. More importantly, how are you? How's your health?"

His father shrugged. "My body has been acting a bit funky lately, but it's pretty normal, given I've changed my meds. It'll take some time to adjust, and then I'll feel better." "I see. Do you need anything from me?" "What you're doing right now is more than enough, boy. I'm proud of you." Ryo smiled. "It's no problem. Glad to help."

After finishing his breakfast, he waved to his father and went out. Entering the gym, he was greeted by Vanessa, who had arrived a bit earlier, and found a challenger waiting for him. She looked pretty young – she had to be a fledgling trainer. "Hi! You're the gym leader, right? I'd like to challenge you!" the girl greeted him. He nodded. "Sure thing. How many gym badges do you have?" "One!"

'I'm her second gym leader, huh? I'll need to dial it down quite a bit, then.' "Alright. When do you want to fight?" "Are you free now?" "Sure! Just give me a few minutes to prepare and change into my gym uniform and I'll be ready to fight." The girl nodded and sat on a sofa in the waiting room.  
Vanessa looked at him. "You seem to be in a much better mood. I'm glad." "I got some rest and talked to Daku. Thanks again for yesterday, by the way."

"It's no problem. You need to be in a good shape to keep up the good work." Ryo nodded, going to change into his gym uniform. He opened the drawer, taking out three Pokéballs from a weaker team to scale down to a reasonable level for a second gym badge, and headed to the battlefield.

The morning was relatively uneventful; after the first battle, Ryo worked in his room, occasionally taking a break from paperwork to face trainers that had come to try their hand at the gym challenge.  
After his lunch break, he went back to the gym and found Alma waiting for him. His expression changed from surprised to neutral. "Hi." he greeted her. "Hello. Um... do you have a minute?" "Depends. Vanessa, are there any scheduled challengers?" he asked his assistant. "Not until four in the afternoon." "Well, guess I'm free then." Ryo shrugged. "You wanted to talk, I imagine? Come to my room."

Once they were alone, Ryo sat on his chair, without saying a word. He just looked at Alma with an expression she couldn't decipher.  
She fiddled nervously with her fingers and finally managed to look at him in the eyes. "Uh... I wanted to apologize for what I said yesterday. I spoke completely out of turn. I had no right to say the things I said to you, especially given that you warned me about going, and you've been nothing but kind to me. I'm sorry I repaid that kindness by lashing out like that."

Ryo took a deep breath. "The events at the mansion shook us both, so I'm not really angry at you. I was more saddened by the fact that you didn't trust me enough to understand that I do not condone Ester's actions in any way, shape or form, and that I would never dream of putting you in harm's way. If I had known just how deranged she had become, I would've refused to let you come outright. It was my mistake as well."

"Don't blame yourself. We'll both learn from this experience, so we don't repeat the same mistakes. Again, I apologize for hurting you. Even if I was angry, that didn't justify my outburst."  
Ryo looked at her thoughtfully. "Still, with all that happened, you only gave me a brief rundown of the situation. What exactly went down with you and her? If you feel like telling me, of course."

Alma nodded and told him the details. The more she went on, the more his expression shifted to shock and discomfort. "Wow. That... that was downright cruel." "Yeah..." "Her team is all of high level strong Pokémon, probably enough to go toe to toe with the Champion. The fact that she toyed around with you like that is shameful, but don't listen to her words. You're not worthless, nor insignificant. She just said that to get under your skin."

Alma clenched her fist. "Well, she succeeded in that." She felt his hand on her shoulder. "Don't let her win. There's a reason why she has no close bonds left, I can see that now. She's just spiteful that you have a better life than hers and wants to drag you down." "Ryo..."  
His eyes narrowed. "It's truly regrettable that she has become such a twisted person, but hearing what she has done to you has strengthened my resolve to stop her before it's too late. I'm going to do everything in my power to bring her to justice."

She looked at him. "Are you going to be alright? You're still going to stand against your childhood friend, after all." He sighed. "Of course it hurts, Alma. But I'm not going to let her harm anyone else. What she has done is unforgivable. I'm going to stop her with whatever means necessary. If talking to her doesn't help, well, we'll have to make her stand down."

"I see. If that's the case... you have my full support." Alma nodded. "Good. I'm going to need all the help I can get." He paused for a second. "Still, I think we're going to need to be a bit stronger if we want to face her. Alma, I'd suggest you go face Maxime and get your eighth badge as soon as possible. Not only will your Pokémon benefit from facing her, but it will prepare you for what's to come. I may have an idea, but I need some time to put a plan into motion."

"But... but! The more time passes, the closest Ester will be to victory." Alma protested. "I know that. But the truth of the matter is, we aren't strong enough to topple her right now, and before we can even hope to stand against her, we need to at least cripple her bonds with the major cities supporting her: Nacrene, Mistralton, Castelia and Nimbasa. That's going to be a diplomatic nightmare, but we need to start working on it now."

"So you're going to try to talk to all other gym leaders?" "Hmmm... a direct approach might be risky. And I need to be cautious as well. I need to assume the worst, and guess that as soon as she sees me moving against her she'll be willing to go as far as hurting me or killing me. I can't afford to be trusting and naive again."

Alma covered her mouth. "So what are you going to do?" Ryo inhaled. "I don't know. I need to talk to the professor as soon as possible, so we can try to organize a united front and try to sway the neutral cities." "You and the professor talked about this?" "Yeah. He was the one to give me the tip about Ester working with terrorists." "Ah, I see! Yeah, that lines up with what Angie told me."

"Angie? You mean Angela, right? She's involved in this investigation too, then." "Yeah. We were thinking about meeting up with the professor and another friend of mine to discuss the recent developments."  
Ryo shook his head. "I don't know if that's a good idea. It's better if I talk to the professor for now." "Why?" "It's too risky to expose yourself just yet. If Ester starts seeing you as a threat, she might target you or your family. And since you're not a gym leader or a professor, it'd be really easy for her to snap her fingers and... well, no one would even know she did it."

Alma froze. "I have to admit... I haven't considered that." "Neither had Angela if she suggested it. Let's just lay low for now, gather our forces, and we'll meet up in a secure place when we have more of an idea on what to do and how to do it, ok?"  
"Yeah. That sounds like a plan." "I'll inform you when I'm done. For now, just go about your life, train to get stronger, and wait for more intel."  
Alma nodded. "Alright. I trust you." Ryo smiled and squeezed her hand. "Thanks. Be careful out there." "Right back at you."

After she went away, the gym leader gazed thoughtfully at his desk, then he picked up his Xtransceiver and dialed up a number he hadn't contacted in a while.  
"Hello? Yes, it's me. Hi, Daisy. I need your help with an important matter. When can we meet up?"


	18. Pressing matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _As Ester grows suspicious of Ryo's words at the mansion, Alma is determined to obtain her last badge. Will she be up to the task?_

_"Where to begin? Your politics of assimilating everything under your name, with legal or slightly less legal procedures. The allegations of you silencing the opposition by whatever means necessary. Even worse, your allegations of working with terrorists."_  
Ever since their encounter at the mansion, Ester hadn't been able to stop thinking about Ryo's words.

Something was wrong with them. 'How could Ryo have possibly arrived to the conclusion that I was working with terrorists? He addressed them as allegations, but...' Lost in thought, she barely noticed Cecilia waltzing into her office. "Hello! Am I interrupting something?" she chirped.  
Ester didn't even look up. "Cecilia, I'm in the middle of something. Plus, you should know I hate being disturbed while I work, yet you keep pestering me."

The musical star scoffed. "You're _always_ working." "Well, some of us have to, to make up for those who make their Pokémon dance in frilly dresses and call it their job." the billionaire fired back, putting away a pile of documents and taking another stack of them to examine them.  
Cecilia bumped her hand on the desk. "I refuse to be disrespected like this!" "Too bad. Now, can you please leave so I can resume my work?"

"I'm not leaving until you hear me out." The musical star stated defiantly. "Or until I call security on you." "You wouldn't dare!" "Try me. I have no time for your shenaningans, Cecilia. Every minute you're making me waste will be detracted from your pay."

Cecilia stomped her feet angrily. "What's the matter with you? Ever since I've signed your stupid contract, you've been treating me like your lap dog! I'm Cecilia Reiner, the star of-"  
Ester exhaled deeply. "I swear to god, if you give me your little speech about being the star of the show and queen of no one's heart again, I'm going to toss your sorry ass out of the window."

She scoffed at the star's growing anger. "Listen, in case you haven't figured it out already, I have no obligation to tend to your every need. I know why you're here, and it's wearing my patience real thin. It's your third big scandal in two months, and it's starting to hurt my brand as well. I have no intention of covering it up for you. If you don't learn to behave, I'm going to have to personally remove you from the contract, cut all of your sponsorships, and absolutely destroy your career. Did I make myself clear? Good."

Cecilia looked at Ester, fury emanating from every single pore of her body. "You're... you're truly heartless!" The billionaire shrugged and returned to her documents, a bored look on her face. "Well, took you a long time to figure that out. Now can you lea-"  
"I can't believe my rotten luck!" the musical star interrupted Ester, in a whiny tone. "And this situation is all because of my failure of a daughter!"

Hearing these words, Ester's eyes widened as she gripped the document she was working on.  
Cecilia didn't even notice, all wrapped out in her vent as she was. "If she hadn't gone on and decided to do her own thing and she had followed her mommy instead of listening to these deviant friends of hers! It's so unfair, and it's all her fault! If it wasn't for her I wouldn't even be in this situation! I wish she had never been born!"

 _"It's unfair! My beautiful, kind wife... she died to give birth to you! I wish you had never been born!"_  
Something clicked inside of Ester. And it wasn't something positive.  
Cecilia finally noticed something wasn't right as she felt a shiver of discomfort. She looked up and saw Ester standing right in front of her, her green eyes filled with an icy fury that scared her to death. She had never seen her like that.

"Cecilia Reiner. You're a pathetic failure of a human being, and you have... you have the nerve to pin all of your shortcomings and horrible life decisions on your daughter of all people? Do you have any idea of how deluded you sound right now?" "Ester, what is the matter with y-" She trembled in fear as Ester came closer, and the cold rage in her voice made every hair on her body stand on end.

"I'll tell you what's the matter with me. You storm into my office uninvited, you refuse to leave when I tell you I don't have time for your petty scandals, then you dare pin everything on..." She stopped herself before she could say anything more, and Cecilia took her hesitation as a chance to fire back. "Aw. Did I strike a nerve?"

In that moment, Ester really considered killing Cecilia. It would've been so easy. The star was defenseless, and she knew how to handle a knife. But she forced herself to calm down. She forced her businesswoman persona on her true feelings, like she always did when she lost control, and found it much easier to breathe.

Ester eased her tone of voice in a calmer one and smiled at her, still dripping poison from every word. "I see you still haven't figured out our power dynamic, Cecilia." Somehow, Ester's complete 180 managed to terrify the star even more than her rage.

"You think you can waltz around like you own the place, and you expect everyone to coddle you. Let me give you a reality check. No one here cares about you. You're a _number_. You're the number of your fans and the amount of money your sponsorships brings. You're nothing to me and to everyone else here. I put up with you only because you had a decent amount of fans to spread my products and my brand to."

Ester kept smiling, reveling in the other woman's mounting anxiety. "You know what that means, right? You're nothing special. There's nothing star worthy about you, and people will eventually realize that and leave you in the dust. And if you cross me, it'll be your one way ticket to irrelevance. You know what the most worthless number is? Zero. You're getting closer and closer to that number every day."

"While my power grows, my need for you gets more and more infinitesimal. Someday, I'll toss you in the trash like I did with others before you. And you know what, Cecilia? I can't wait for that day to come."  
She gave her an amused look. "So enjoy your fifteen minutes of success while you can. You're dismissed."

Cecilia's eyes had become empty after Ester's speech. The billionaire's ruthless dismissal of every single thing that made her proud about herself had cut very, very deep. She mechanically headed for the exit, trying really hard not to show how broken she was feeling.

But Ester knew.  
And as the other woman left the room, her first genuine smile appeared on her cheek. "That was almost fun." she commented, going back to her work as if nothing had happened.  
As her short lived glee subsided, though, she remembered some of the pressing matters at hand.

'Now about those terrorist allegations... I need to figure out who started them. Should they spread before my hegemony on Unova's economy is complete, it could be risky for my brand. I'll dig into them as soon as I'm finished here.'  
She stretched, looking at the stack of documents, her graphs, and her bullet point plan for the day. 'I'm so close to my goal, and the plan is already underway. I'm not going to rest until I grasp victory, no matter what happens.'

* * *

After a very eventful stay, it was time to finally bid goodbye to Icirrus City. Alma gathered her things and headed out, after giving a last thoughtful look to the gym. She had agreed to continue her journey to become stronger and hopefully be able to hold a candle to Ester's strength.  
Her next stop was Opelucid, home to the eighth gym and one of the strongest gym leaders of the region, Maxime.

The trek through Route 8 and Route 9 was pretty uneventful, considering she had already crossed that path with Angela before and Route 9 was pretty straightforward – she only stopped at Shopping Mall Nine to stock up on items and Pokéballs to prepare herself for what was to come. Having a mall in the middle of a Route was pretty unusual, but she found it to be moderately crowded, with mostly rich kids and the occasional bikers and hooligans lounging around.

After crossing the gates, she finally arrived at Opelucid, the city of traditions. She marvelled at the unique architecture; the houses were mostly beige and made the city stand in stark contrast when compared to the rest of the region. It was as if time had stopped to a hundred years before, and yet the city still appeared to have been modernized recently, with smooth paved roads and a fountain in the middle of the city square.

She took her time to look around for a while before finally heading to the gym, where she found a middle aged man at the reception to greet her. "Hi! Welcome to Opelucid. You're a new challenger, correct?" he asked. "Yes. I'm here to get my eighth badge. Is Maxime here?" "Well, I can call her over. She's working in her personal room."

He dialed a number and then said: "Yes, honey, there's a new challenger. Come meet her, yeah? Great!" "Honey...?" Alma mused, looking at the gym assistant. "Well, Maxime's my wife." "Really!" It was the first time she had seen a married gym leader – then again, most of them were really young, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise.

Maxime arrived a few moments later. She was a really strong-looking woman, with long, black, curly hair that perfectly complemented her deep brown eyes and round face. She looked younger than she probably was, maybe due to her well toned body or because of her infectious smile. Alma found her instantly likeable.  
"Hello there! I'm Maxime, though I'm sure you already knew that. What about you?" she asked, offering her hand. Alma shook it and found she had a really strong handshake as well. "Alma from Nuvema Town!" "Oh! A Nuvema girl! Delightful. My husband was born there!"

Alma smiled, looking at the assistant. "Really? That's great!" "Yeah, I've moved to Opelucid later on in life and I met Maxime, so... I mean, with a woman like this, who wouldn't stay?" "Honey!" Maxime looked a bit flustered, but she laughed heartily. "I'm looking forward to facing you, Alma. I haven't been able to go all out on a challenge in a long time! Let's make it an encounter for the history books, yeah?"

"I'm on board. When are you free?" "Is in two days good for you? I have a lot of things to sort out, we're having a bit of trouble with our battlefield... we've recently changed the batteries but we're having technical problems, and I want to make sure it's oiled up and ready to go when a challenger arrives. You don't want the field to just blow up in your face, do you?"

Alma shook her head. "Definitely not. I'd rather have my Pokémon stay alive." "Hah! That's for sure. So in two days, at four in the afternoon... are you ok with that timeslot?" "Yeah! I'm ok with it." "Great! It's decided, then. Honey?" "On it!" Maxime's husband wrote down the date and hour, and smiled at Alma. "It's all set! You've booked your slot."

"Thank you very much, both of you!" "No problem. See you soon!" Maxime waved at her and then went back to her work, and the trainer bowed to the assistant before going away. She would've used the extra time to train and prepare herself for the battle. She was determined to grow stronger, not only for herself, but to assist Ryo in taking down Ester.

The day of the gym challenge came, and Alma inhaled deeply as she went over her team one more time. She was planning to bring Arin, Rouge and Seira. Arin would've helped a great deal against the various dragons with Ice Beam, she had taught Seira Dual Chop and having a Regenerator switch in had proved to be vital during Ryo's gym, and Rouge was just overall very useful with the combo of Will-O-Wisp and Hex to cripple Maxime's team.

With such a star team, she had no doubt she could overcome everything Maxime would've thrown at her. Now, the only question was the terrain. How was the battlefield going to be?  
She entered the gym, greeted Maxime's husband and then entered the battlefield. She nearly had a heart attack seeing just what was waiting for her: at the sides of the battlefield there were enormous dragon heads whirring softly. Plus, she suspected the weirdly colored patches of terrain on the battlefield weren't normal either.

"Welcome to Opelucid's gym, the dragon's domain!" Maxime greeted her with a smile. "Those metal dragon heads you see are alive! They'll occasionally spit very, very nasty flames. And that's not all! You see, these dragons hate when their domain in the sky is invaded. Should you attempt to fly or float on the battlefield, prepare yourself for a barrage of attacks! Here, everyone is grounded. But that's not the end of it. See these patches of darker color in the terrain? There are dragons sleeping underneath. Should you step on them, they'll spring up to bite you, and they hurt quite a lot!"

"So it's basically a landmine field and an anti-aircraft? That's... quite a lot to take in!" After Ryo's plain field, she had forgotten just how intense hazards could be. "I know, but that's the fun of it! Plus, it's the eighth gym. I'm going to make you sweat for this badge!"

"I guess that's fair enough." Alma smiled. "So the gist of it is, we need to stay as grounded as possible to avoid the air dragons, but we need to tread carefully not to wake the ground dragons?" the trainer asked. "Pretty much. This gym shall test your adaptability and attention to detail. It'll be a 3v3, only the challenger can switch. Are you ready?" "Yes!" "Then let's begin!"

Maxime sent in her first Pokémon, a strong looking Salamence. Alma led up with Rouge, expecting a physical attacker, and she got that read correctly. Salamence landed on the ground and roared menacingly, as Rouge floated a few centimetres above the ground to avoid triggering the dragons.  
She considered switching, since she couldn't risk him having Earthquake or another strong move to deal with fire and steel types – she needed to scout his moveset.

'I could Protect... but what if he has Dragon Dance? I have to risk him not having Earthquake and Will-O-Wisp, because if I switch he might sweep my entire team with Dragon Dance. He has Moxie as well, since he didn't lower my attack. I definitely can't risk it.'

After careful consideration, Alma ordered Rouge to go for Will-O-Wisp, and Maxime's dragon went for Dragon Dance. Alma's eyes widened and she exhaled. If she had switched there, she would've lost. Salamence was burned, cutting his attack. "I'm impressed! That was a nice read. But it won't help much. Dragon Dance!" Maxime ordered.

With another buff, he could've easily oneshotted through the burn – fortunately, if Alma had learned to deal with something effectively in Ryo's gym, it was setup moves. "Not so fast! Clear Smog!" the trainer ordered. Maxime whistled as Rouge cancelled Salamence's buffs and damaged him. With the damage from burn, and the chip damage from Clear Smog starting to wear him out, Salamence was pretty weakened.

Maxime understood that pretty well. "Salamence, Outrage!" she ordered. "Protect!" Now that she had put the gym leader under pressure, Alma stalled a burn turn with Protect to avoid Rouge taking too much damage. The eighth gym leader scoffed. "You're playing that game, huh?" "It's my best chance to win, so I'll take it." "Fine. Outrage again!"

After Protect's barrier broke, Outrage did a fair amount of damage – burn or no burn, it was still a Salamence. "Hex!" Alma ordered. With the doubled damage due to Salamence's burn and all the chip damage he had taken before, Hex KOed it pretty easily.  
Alma exhaled contently. One down.

"Well played, Alma. Truly good reads. I can see that Ryo's gym has drilled you pretty well, huh?" Maxime chuckled, recalling Salamence. Alma blushed. "Lost two times to him. I needed to step up my game afterwards." "That's fair." "Salamence didn't have Earthquake?" she asked the gym leader. "No, he had Fire Blast to deal with Ice and Steel types, but... well, I can't really Fire Blast a Chandelure, can I?" "Fair point."

"Let's have a bit more fun with the terrain, then. Go, Haxorus!" The pure dragon type made an apparition on the battlefield, stomping his feet and preparing to destroy whoever stood in his way. Alma knew she either had to switch or sacrifice Chandelure – but knowing Haxorus' high attack, the rest of her team would've been two-hit KO'd. She much preferred having a safe switch in rather than try to preserve Rouge.

"Haxorus, Earthquake!" "Hex!" Knowing Rouge was going to be outsped and KOed, she gave her the order but the ghost type didn't manage to quite connect the hit before being sent back to her Pokéball. Alma recalled her. "Great job. You can rest now." She took a deep breath and sent out Seira.

The Mienshao looked ready to fight, as always – Alma had given her a moveset to take full advantage of Regenerator and gain some momentum in the fight, and she was confident she wouldn't have let her down. "Haxorus, Outrage!" "Seira, Fake Out!" Before Haxorus could act, Seira dashed towards him and used Fake Out to make him flinch – however, while she was going back, she accidentally hit a dark patch of terrain and a dragon springed to life, biting her and damaging her.

"Whoa!" "Alma, careful... the terrain's still active. You might've avoided it with Chandelure, but your grounded Pokémon still get hit." Maxime chuckled. "Seira, you still up and running, right?" The fighting type nodded, ready to unleash her strength. "Great. Dual Chop, and this time try to avoid the terrain!" "Outrage!"

As Haxorus rampaged through the battlefield, Mienshao got a double hit off, damaging him further, but didn't quite manage to get the KO and was heavily damaged by the dragon type move. She still needed her healthy to face the last Pokémon, though... Alma's gears turned in her brain. She needed to save Mienshao for one last turn and hope for the confusion to come through.

"Seira, Detect!" Seira protected herself from the Outrage, and thankfully Haxorus' rampage ended, with him becoming confused due to fatigue. As an added bonus, while stumbling around due to his confusion, he hit a darker patch as well and was chomped down by a dragon, further weakening him.

"Nice!" Alma smiled. "He's almost down! Dual Chop!" Maxime knew he was going to be KO'd; she ordered him to use Earthquake, but it didn't hit in time as Mienshao finished her weakened opponent off with the dragon type move.  
"You put all of these protecting moves just for Outrage?" Maxime asked curiously, recalling her Pokémon. "I mean, dragons just kind of... Outrage spam on pretty much everything that's not a steel type, so yeah." she admitted sheepishly.

"That's a fair point. I'll give you props for that, but I'm not done yet." Maxime sent out her last Pokémon, a Kingdra. Alma thought about it for a little while. Kingdra was not that fast, but she needed her Mienshao to live a little while longer, and at this rate she would've died from the first move she tanked.  
"Seira, U-Turn out!" Being faster than Kingdra, the Mienshao had a chance to get out before things got dicey – unfortunately for Alma, Maxime wasn't going to let her win that easily.

"Kingdra, Rain Dance!" Alma's eyes widened as the rain started to fall on the battlefield. She immediately understood what that meant – Kingdra had Swift Swim and was about to sweep her.  
"Go, Arin!" Fortunately, her last Pokémon resisted water, which meant Kingdra had to hit him with a neutral dragon move and Arin wasn't as affected by a rain boosted Surf, Hydro Pump or Scald.

But the Simipour didn't have a good way to hit Kingdra either. Ice Beam was only neutral, and her best bet was to soften her up with chip damage, fish for a poison and pray to the gods that Mienshao was able to finish her off.  
"Arin, hold your ground and avoid the darker patches of terrain! Gunk Shot!" "Use Dragon Pulse!" Kingdra hit a powerful Dragon Pulse, but Arin managed to hang on with little health, avoid being pushed into a darker patch and hit back with a Gunk Shot that sent Kingdra flying to the ground, right into a darker patch of terrain.

"Yes!" Alma cheered. The dragon head came up to crunch and damage Kingdra. "Dragon Pulse again!" Maxime ordered, frustrated but still determined to win. Arin was knocked out by the following Dragon Pulse, but he had done his job well. "Great work. Come back!"

Alma sent out Seira, who had gotten some health back due to Regenerator. Maxime smiled, already knowing what was coming. "Fake Out!" the trainer ordered. "Hydro Pump!" The priority move hit first, making Kingdra flinch, and after all the chip damage she had endured during her fight with Arin and tanking the previous U-Turn, it was enough to finish the job.

Kingdra fainted. Alma had won. She recalled Seira after giving her a high five and exhaled deeply. The dragon heads at the side of the battle sparked to life with a rainbow flame, nearly giving her a heart attack. "Congratulations! You've bested my dragons and won the eighth and final gym badge!" "Gods, Maxime! I almost fainted!" The gym leader tilted her head. "You don't like my celebratory flames?" "They're really pretty, but please give a warning next time. They're a bit scary." "Hmmm... you might be right. I'll dial it down for the next challenger."

Maxime gave her the Lair badge and the TM for Dragon Pulse, which Alma accepted with a smile. "So your gym challenge's over, isn't it? Are you going to the Pokémon League next?" the gym leader asked her. "I can't just yet. I need to take care of a pressing matter first." Alma admitted. Her dream needed to take a backseat for a moment – she wanted to work towards guaranteeing the safety of Unova first.

"I can respect that. From the way you fight, I'd say you're ready for pretty much everything life's going to throw your way." Maxime joked. Alma's expression became somber. "Yeah... unfortunately, pretty much isn't good enough. There's an opponent I'm still not strong enough to beat." Maxime looked at her questioningly. "Are you not referring to our Champion?" "If only..."

Alma sighed. "Sorry for bothering you. I'm going to get some fresh air." Before she could say anything else, the trainer was gone. The gym leader scratched her head. "What's the matter with that poor girl? She seemed so shaken. I wonder what's going through her head... she didn't even seem that happy about her victory."

Her husband joined her on the battlefield. "What's up?" "I'm a bit worried about our latest challenger..." Maxime mused. "I hope she'll be ok." "I've seen the battle. She'll make it." "Let's hope so."


End file.
